


All I Want for Christmas Is a Couple of Boyfriends

by Tinywriterfairy



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Acceptance, Christmas, Coming Out, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family Drama, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Meet the Family, Mutual Pining, Pining, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21695068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinywriterfairy/pseuds/Tinywriterfairy
Summary: "When are you bringing a girl home?"This is all Renjun's family asks when he comes home to visit. He's fed up with it.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Liu Yang Yang
Comments: 17
Kudos: 493
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	All I Want for Christmas Is a Couple of Boyfriends

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #0059: "Renjun’s family sees him once in a year on Christmas. Every time Renjun goes back to China for Christmas they always ask him about his girlfriend and when he is bringing her home. So Renjun decides to take his two best friends Jaemin and Jeno to their latest Christmas dinner to make them stop forever and teach them a lesson that love is not only between one boy and one girl."
> 
> I'm afraid I strayed a little from the original prompt parameters, but the spirit is here, I promise. This prompt grabbed me and wouldn't let go, and now it's grown into this lovely monster. I hope you enjoy it!! Many thanks to my beta for all your help~
> 
> For the record, spoken italics are for Mandarin and plain text is for Korean. 
> 
> A note about the tags; I tagged both referenced and explicit homophobia because in my opinion the line between the two tags is blurred a little due to discussions in this fic. I don't think it's too serious, but if this is something you're sensitive to, please take care of yourself first.

Knocking on the door of Renjun’s family home never got old, no matter how many times he came back for the holidays. It was a good, solid door, thick wood that rose above his head to join the intricate carvings that spread from the doorway across the front of the roof. Thick clouds blanketed the sky, but it hadn’t snowed yet. He and Donghyuck had left their suitcases at the bottom of the steps. Renjun hiked his backpack further up on his shoulders as Donghyuck fidgeted. 

“What?”

“What, what? I’m tired,” Donghyuck whined. He adjusted his backpack, too. “I didn’t get to nap on the plane and my bag is heavy.” Not to mention the cold, but they had at least bundled up before leaving the airport.

The door opened and Renjun was pulled into his mother’s embrace. “ _My baby, welcome home._ ”

“ _Hi, mom._ ” He hugged her back. She smelled like home, warm spice and clean laundry that shouldn’t smell good together but always did. “ _I missed you_.”

“ _Good. I missed you, too._ ” She stepped back to look him over. He looked fine, surely, but he still fidgeted. “ _Now, who did you bring to visit me?_ ”

“ _Just me again,_ ” Donghyuck piped up, moving in for his own hug. “ _It’s good to see you, auntie._ ”

“ _Welcome, dear_ ,” his mom crushed Donghyuck in a hug. She eyed Renjun over Donghyuck’s shoulder. “ _No one else?_ ”

Renjun exercised all of his self-control not to roll his eyes in front of his mother. “ _No, mom, no one else_.”

“ _When are you going to bring someone else home?_ ” His mother asked, ushering them into the house. As usual, the rest of the family had barged in and left their shoes and coats in a pile by the front door. Otherwise, his mother kept the rest of the hallway impeccably clean.

Donghyuck pouted. “ _You don’t like seeing me, auntie?_ ”

“ _Of course, I love you._ ” She patted his cheek. “ _But you can’t be the only person he ever brings home._ ”

Renjun dragged their suitcases into the hallway and nudged them past Donghyuck. He pulled a confused face. “ _You mean my other friends, mom? They have to go see their families at Christmas._ ”

His mother swatted him gently. “ _Put those in your rooms. No, you know I mean a girl. When will you bring your girlfriend home?_ ”

Donghyuck caught his gaze behind his mother’s back and gagged exaggeratedly. Renjun widened his eyes at him. Every year Donghyuck came with him, it got harder not to speak up. Renjun sighed. “ _I don’t have a girlfriend, mom._ ”

“ _I know! When will you?_ ”

Well, maybe never, but she didn’t need to know that. He let her nag at him as they dragged their stuff up to their rooms. Donghyuck started laughing before he escaped into his own room. Of course he thought it was funny. Renjun grumbled as he dragged his suitcase into his room and waved his mother off. He didn’t have to deal with his parents griping at him at Christmas anymore, so he could be amused at Renjun’s suffering. Renjun tossed the suitcase onto his bed and started unpacking. His room hadn’t changed much since he went to study in Korea. Everything remained stuck in time, the dresser from primary school, the desk and curtains from middle school, the stars he had added to his room over the years, but his parents had replaced the bed ages ago.

They trooped downstairs to where a few of his family members were gathered. The living room was barely big enough for his parents, aunts, and uncles to sit comfortably with most of their children when everyone clamoured together. Thankfully, only about half of them were around. Renjun went to hug his dad and greet the first of his aunts and uncles to arrive. As Donghyuck greeted Renjun’s father, his aunt and uncle pointed across the room.

Yangyang waved from his spot on the emptier couch. He had gone back to dark hair since the last time Renjun had seen him. Renjun dashed over to pull him upright and shove him gently. “ _What are you doing back here and not telling me?_ ”

Yangyang laughed. “ _You haven’t seen me in months and that’s all you have to say?_ ”

“ _I would have had nicer things to say if I’d known you were back._ ”

He shrugged. “ _I figured I’d see you here._ ”

Renjun hummed. “ _So, are you back permanently? Are your parents coming?_ ”

“ _Yeah, my study program ended._ ” He sighed. “ _It’s back to school here for me now. And no, they never come._ ”

“ _What’s going on?_ ” Donghyuck came over. “ _Am I missing—oh. Hi_.”

Yangyang froze for a second, staring at Donghyuck. “ _Hello_ ,” he said. “ _I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Renjun’s cousin, Liu Yangyang._ ”

Donghyuck blinked rapidly. “ _Hi, yeah, I’m Renjun’s best friend from South Korea, Lee Donghyuck. I’ve been coming back with him for winter break every year for a while now, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you?_ ”

Renjun wasn’t about to comment on what he was seeing in front of his family. He put a hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder. “ _Yangyang went to study in Germany around the same time I went to Korea. It’s too far of a trip to come for shorter breaks like this, so he only comes back for the several month long summer break_.” He turned to Yangyang. “ _Donghyuck’s been coming back with me since we met in Korea a few years ago_.”

Yangyang cocked his head. “ _Would it be rude of me to ask why you aren’t spending the holidays with your family?_ ”

Donghyuck shrugged as thought it was casual. “ _My family doesn’t celebrate the holidays the way yours does, and your family has always been very kind to me._ ”

Yangyang grinned. “ _I’m glad. It’s late, but welcome. I hope I’ll be able to make it even better._ ”

Renjun turned to make sure none of their parents saw how red Donghyuck’s face got at that. “ _I think you just might, thank you. Would you excuse us a moment? I need Renjun’s help with something_.”

Donghyuck waited only long enough to get a response from Yangyang before he dragged Renjun into the kitchen by the wrist. His mother had been through to prepare food earlier, he could see the dishes waiting to be served, but the room was empty now.

“What the fuck, Renjun,” he whisper-screeched as soon as they were alone. “Why didn’t you tell me your hot cousin would be here? Why didn’t you tell me you had a hot cousin?”

“He’s not that hot,” Renjun wrinkled his nose. “He’s my cousin. What did you expect me to do? Inspect my relatives for attractiveness before I introduced you around?”

“Warn me, yes!” Donghyuck peeked out at the living room. “Do you think it would make things weird if I asked him out?”

“Weird for whom?” Renjun leaned on the wall. “Me? A little, but mostly because I don’t want to think about my cousin doing anything with anyone. For him? Probably not. For the family? I don’t know, they still haven’t grasped the idea that I don’t have a secret girlfriend.”

Donghyuck snorted. “Yeah, you might want to get on that.”

“Shut up.” Renjun pushed off the wall. “If it makes you feel better, I’ve never seen Yangyang react like that to someone, and I was there when he met his first crush.” He had flirted with the crush, but only after making sure they would be interested. Renjun peeked back into the living room over Donghyuck’s head. Yangyang sat in his original spot, glancing at the kitchen every now and then. 

Donghyuck perked up as they headed back out. He dragged Renjun to the couch where Yangyang sat and plopped down next to him. Renjun perched at the other end. “ _So, Yangyang, did you like Germany?_ ”

Yangyang looked surprised to see them, but answered readily enough. The two fell into conversation easily. Renjun relaxed slightly.

“ _So, Renjun._ ” His aunt leaned in once she noticed he wasn’t occupied. “ _How’s school?_ ”

“ _It’s been good. I’m getting to take classes in my major now_.” He answered questions about his classes and his friends without breaking a sweat. As long as the conversation stayed there, he’d be fine. More relatives arrived. Renjun got up to help his grandmother find a seat when she came and ended up recapping everything for her.

“ _And girls?_ ” she asked as soon as he finished. “ _Have you met anyone new?_ ”

“ _Well, I met a lot of new people this year, grandmother_ ,” he bit back, “ _but no, no one in the way you mean._ ”

Donghyuck nudged him. Renjun elbowed Donghyuck back. The two next to him would not stop flirting under the family’s radar. He was a little afraid to ask where Donghyuck had learned some of those words. Renjun turned back to his grandmother when she asked him why he hadn’t met any new girls to bring home.

“ _Grandmother, I’m busy with school. I have plenty of friends, I’m enjoying myself, I’m not interested in a relationship right now_.”

Donghyuck snorted quietly. 

“What?” Renjun muttered in Korean.

“Oh, nothing, keep telling them how uninterested you are.”

“ _You ask me this every year._ ” He tried to make sure he was addressing the whole room. “ _I’m barely into my twenties. Shouldn’t it be more important that I’m happy? When I want to meet someone, I’ll meet someone. Isn’t that what matters?_ ”

“ _But you’ll be so happy when you meet someone you like,_ ” his grandmother patted his father’s knee. “ _Tell him. Weren’t you happy when you met his mother?_ ”

“ _Very_.” His father, at least, had mostly stayed out of the girlfriend debate. 

“ _I’m sure I would be, but pressuring me to bring you someone doesn’t make me any more likely to actually do it_.” All it did was make him want to avoid the women he was actually attracted to.

His mother came in from the kitchen. “ _Dinner’s ready. And, Renjun, if we don’t remind you, we worry that you’ll never do it._ ”

He sighed, but got up to help his grandmother to the dinner table. At least one good thing came out of dinner; Dongyuck and Yangyang sat together and appeared to actually be planning a date under their breath. He wasn’t even going to question how Yangyang had escaped the girlfriend debate. He was able to distract from the girl questions by asking his cousins how they had been. Catching up in other areas took the rest of dinner. Renjun stayed downstairs when Donghyuck practically begged him silently to cover while he and Yangyang snuck upstairs. It was more of the same until he could reasonably escape.

He went into Donghyuck’s room without knocking. Thankfully, his cousin didn’t move fast enough that he’d interrupted anything scarring. Donghyuck glared when he slipped inside, though. “ _What do you want?_ ”

“ _You’re really going to say that to me, after I covered for you all evening?_ ” Renjun leaned against the door. “ _I am willing to cover for you, by the way, as long as I don’t have to see anything that will scar me for life while I do so._ ”

Yangyang smirked. “ _Then you might want to knock before entering places with closed doors for a while._ ”

Donghyuck smacked him, but he was blushing. “ _What are you implying?_ ”

“ _You’ll see. If you let me take you out tomorrow like I was planning._ ”

“ _So there is a plan?_ ”

“ _Definitely._ ” Yangyang grinned at him. “ _How much are you willing to cover for us?_ ”

Renjun pointed at him. “ _Not as much as whatever you’re thinking. But I’ll cover for you being out of the house as long as you don’t abuse the favor_.” Donghyuck deserved a nice time, whatever it turned out to be. “ _Now, dealing with my family has given me a headache and I need to sleep it off. Please don’t be too loud in here, I don’t think I can cover for that._ ”

Donghyuck flipped him off, which made Renjun laugh as he went to bed. It was good to know a crush didn’t change his best friend.

***

Based on the way Donghyuck smiled down at his phone while they boarded the plane back to Korea, Yangyang was going to be more than a crush. He couldn’t stop peeking at it, even as they loaded their suitcases into the carry-on luggage shelf. Renjun scoffed as he buckled himself in.

“You like my cousin that much?”

Donghyuck typed something into his phone. “I do. Does that bother you?”

“Please.” He watched the ground roll away as the plane took off. “I’m more bothered by my family’s blindness to the whole thing.”

Donghyuck shrugged as he pocketed his phone. “At least they’re not actively homophobic? I don’t feel uncomfortable around them.”

And he would know, wouldn’t he? “I suppose, but that doesn't exactly solve the problem.” Renjun sat back. Was there something that would, aside from finding a girlfriend?

Donghyuck played with the overhead dashboard, flicking the light on and off before adjusting the airflow the way he liked it. “Why don't you just take a girl home for one of these visits? It would get them off your back for a year, at least."

"I'm not doing that."

"Why?" Donghyuck turned to face Renjun as much as he could in the tiny airplane seats. "It wouldn't even be bearding, not really. You like girls, too."

"Two problems with that." Renjun held up two fingers. "I can't just get a girlfriend because my parents are nagging me. It won't end the issue, it'll just make them start nagging me about marriage and babies. Whether I get a real girlfriend or not, it's just delaying things. Second, it would just disguise the issue. They want me to marry a woman and have kids with her because they think that's the only option. It bothers me, yeah, but it makes me wonder if they even know there are other options in the world."

Donghyuck shrugged, looking like he knew something Renjun didn’t. "Well, you've got a year to think about it."

"That's true." Renjun settled down for a nap. 

***

Renjun nudged his door closed, creeping into his own apartment like a burglar. It was ridiculous, but given how many people were currently in his apartment, it was the only safe way to get anywhere. He crept down the hall past the living room (luckily, the door was closed) to get to his room. It was simpler than his room at his parents' house, just a full bed and bookshelves along the walls around his desk, but he'd packed it with his life here. Textbooks, novels in two languages, trinkets and gifts from his friends. He dropped his bag to the floor and sat on his bed. A lucky cat Jeno had given him for his birthday sat next to Jaemin's globe of the world and a jar of candy from Donghyuck. Mark wasn't so good at giving presents. Renjun let himself rest in the quiet while he could. It had been a long day, made longer once Kun decided to introduce him to his new friend Kunhang.

“Renjun?” Jeno peeked into the bedroom. “What are you doing in here? We didn’t even realize you were home.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Renjun said dryly. He shook his head. “Am I caught now?”

Jeno grinned. “Yes.” He held out a hand. “Come on.”

He didn’t take the hand, but he did follow Jeno back to the living room. Donghyuck—it had better have been Donghyuck—had shoved their couch back to the far wall to make room for blankets and pillows to cover the floor Jaemin and Donghyuck sprawled on the floor, debating what sounded like choices for a movie. Jeno went to sit by Jaemin. “Where’s Mark?”

“He got called in to cover for Doyoung at work.” Donghyuck brushed past him to get to the kitchen. “He might come over after if work doesn’t kill him.”

“Ah.”

“Renjun, come here.” Jaemin waved him over, patting the spot between himself and Jeno. Renjun walked over, but didn’t sit.

“What do you want?”

“Yeah, what _do_ you want, Nana?” Donghyuck called from the kitchen. 

“Shut up.” He smiled up at Renjun. “We found something you might like to see before the movie.”

“What kind of something?”

Jeno held up his phone. “Someone decided to re-dub movie trailers with the literal descriptions of what’s going on. It’s pretty funny.”

Renjun raised an eyebrow, but sat between them. “Let me see, then.”

The videos were pretty funny. Donghyuck’s favorite movie had a re-dubbed trailer that had them all in stitches. Renjun jumped up when his mother’s face lit his phone screen. “I'll be back in a minute. You behave.”

Jaemin smirked. “Make me.”

Renjun flipped him off and stepped out of the room. " _Hi, mom. What's up?_ " He headed into the kitchen. The fridge stuck out next to the doorway; Renjun had to step around it to reach any of the cabinets. He would have preferred any other position for it, but the only other outlet was across the room by the sink—which was surrounded by counterspace.

" _I just wanted to check in with you. How are things?_ "

" _Things are good._ " He stopped to poke around in a cabinet. Donghyuck had made popcorn, but he wanted something else. " _My friends are over, we're going to watch a movie._ "

Her voice brightened. " _Anyone I should know about?_ "

Renjun sighed, closing the cabinet door. " _I don't know, Mom, do you want to know about Jeno's last test?_ "

" _You know I'm asking about a girl, baby._ "

He gripped the doorknob. Nine months since he'd sat through an interrogation by the family. Three months since he had seen her in person. More than a month since they had talked for more than a few minutes, and this was what she wanted to hear about? “ _Is this really all you care about?_ ” He grabbed a bag of chips off the counter. “ _Whether I’m dating?_ ”

His mother sighed. “ _Of course not, but I worry about you. I haven’t heard about you dating since you left home._ ” Because he hadn’t dated a girl since high school. “ _I just want what’s best for you, baby._ ”

“ _I know you do, but you all ask me this so much that I start to think that’s your only measure of happiness._ ” He took the chips back to the living room and leaned in the doorway. Jeno and Jaemin tussled over the remote, giggling at each other while Donghyuck ate the popcorn meant for the movie. Donghyuck caught his gaze and mouthed ‘ _are you okay?_ ’ Renjun shrugged. Jaemin pinned Jeno and started tickling him. They seemed to have forgotten about the remote. His mother started lecturing him.

“ _I’ll stop asking when you bring me one nice girl so I know you’re doing okay. You can’t blame me for worrying._ ”

Jeno finally pushed Jaemin off and grabbed up the remote. He said something that made Jaemin light up and take the remote. Renjun tapped the door frame with a finger. One nice girl? What about two nice boys? “ _Okay, mom. I think I might be able to bring someone home this year_.” They said goodbye, and he stuck his phone back in his pocket. He stalked over to Jeno and Jaemin and dropped between them. “So, what are we watching?”

Jaemin waved the remote. “I won, we’re watching _Train to Busan_.”

Renjun nodded. They all stared at him. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Jaemin patted his head very gently. “Injunnie, you hate zombie movies.”

Jeno scooted closer. “Was the call okay?”

“Hm?” Renjun let Jeno feel his forehead for a fever before he pushed the hand off. “There’s no need for that. My mom was the same as usual, don’t worry about it. I just don’t care what we watch. If you want to watch zombies kill an entire cast, that’s fine. I’ll just sit here and eat my chips.”

No one looked convinced, but Jaemin knew better than to turn down the chance to watch his movie, so he played it. While zombies went about their business, Renjun plotted.

***

Renjun set his textbook down when he hadn’t read past the first page in fifteen minutes. “Hey, Hyuck?”

“Yeah?” Donghyuck called from his room. “What’s up?”

“I’m about to do something crazy and I need you to tell me if you think it’ll work.”

Donghyuck appeared in the doorway, still working on his phone. “How crazy? Am I enabling you or talking you down?”

“I mean, that’s up to you.” Renjun made room on the couch for Donghyuck to sit. He grabbed at the phone when Donghyuck got close enough just to see Donghyuck fend him off with a glare. “But I think it could actually work?”

“What is it?”

“So, you know how my family is about me and girls.” Renjun picked up his phone.

“Since I hear it every year, yes I do. What about it?”

“Well … I want to teach them a lesson.”

“Oh, no. Are you going to take home a fake girlfriend? I know I mentioned it last year, but I don’t actually think it’s that good an idea.”

“No, not exactly.” Renjun played with his phone. “I want to bring home a fake boyfriend. Two, actually.”

Donghyuck’s eyes widened. “You want to take Jeno and Jaemin home to your parents?”

“I—how did you know it was them?”

“Who else could it be?”

“Okay, that’s fair.”

Donghyuck put the bowl down on the floor. “Why don’t you just tell them you like them now so you can take them back as your real boyfriends?”

Renjun choked. “I don’t like them, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, so you hate them?”

Renjung smacked him with one of the couch pillows. “Shut up, you know what I mean. I don’t see them like that. We’re friends. And I think they might be able to help me out with this thing. Do you think it would work?”

“Are you asking me if they’ll say yes or if your parents will believe you?”

“Both, I guess?”

“They’re whipped for you, of course they’ll say yes.” Donghyuck shrugged. “As for the other, it’s probably a disaster in the making, but you should totally do it. It’ll be fun for me. Or you could just confess to them and I’m sure it’ll go fine with your parents.”

Renjun rolled his eyes as he picked his textbook back up. “Go text your boyfriend, your phone has been buzzing on the table for the past five minutes.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Donghyuck was off the couch in a flash. How cute. Renjun tried to go back to his work, but ended up planning his approach.

***

Renjun balanced the food basket against his hip so he could knock on Jeno and Jaemin's apartment door. The two lived in a nondescript building only a few blocks from campus, slightly farther from Renjun. Luckily, the food wasn’t too heavy. It took forever and no time at all for Jaemin to open the door.

"Injunnie!" He leaned against the doorframe. "What's up? I thought you and Donghyuck were doing a roommate thing tonight?"

"I asked him to push it back. I wanted to talk to you and Jeno." He proffered the basket to forestall a response. "I brought food."

"Well, that changes everything." Jaemin let him in and yelled for Jeno.

Renjun snorted, but followed Jaemin into the little hallway the apartment opened into. Jaemin disappeared, presumably into his room. They hadn’t done much with it, just hung a coat rack on the wall. Renjun toed off his shoes and set down the basket so he could hang his coat. He ducked right into the kitchen to drop off his food offering on the counter—he’d prepared one of his mother’s recipes before coming over so they could eat whenever—before slipping into the living room. He sat in the small armchair by the speaker system. When they had moved in, Jaemin had talked Jeno into getting larger speakers to set up on opposite sides of the room for better sound quality. Normally, he hated the chair, but he wanted to face the other two for this conversation, even if it felt a little like an interrogation seat.

Jeno took a seat across from him on the couch. "What's going on?"

"I'd rather wait until Jaemin gets back, if that's okay. I'd rather just do this once."

Jeno nodded. He looked concerned, but didn’t push it.

“I brought fried rice, by the way.” Renjun leaned around the chair to peer at Jaemin’s room. The door was closed, and practically indistinguishable from Jeno’s door right next to it. What was he doing? “So we can eat whenever you want.”

“Oh?” Jeno dashed to the kitchen. He came back with the basket, three plates, and utensils. “I’m starving. Thank you so much.”

“I guess we’re eating now, then?” Renjun helped Jeno plate the food. Jeno went to knock on Jaemin’s door. 

“We’ve got food, come eat.” He didn’t wait for a response, but took his place at the couch again and dug in. Renjun took his own plate back to the armchair.

Jaemin dropped onto the couch beside Jeno. “Sorry about that, I forgot I had to turn something in.” He picked up his own plate. “Is this your mom’s fried rice?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my God, I love you.” He practically inhaled the rice. 

Renjun went back to his own food to ignore the heat around his ears and neck. Between the three of them, it took mere minutes to demolish the batch. Renjun got up to clear their plates, but Jaemin and Jeno both refused to let him. Jaemin wrestled the plates away from him and disappeared into the kitchen. Renjun perched on his chair, waiting for the interrogation to begin.

Jaemin came back to sit next to Jeno. “So what's so important that you skipped out on plans with your best friend and brought us food?"

"Right." Renjun straightened. He probably only had one shot. Better make it count. "My mom called me the other day to ask when I'm bringing home a girl for Christmas."

They looked at each other, then back at him. "But it's not even fall break yet," Jeno said.

Jaemin elbowed him. "I don't think that's the point here."

"It's not." Renjun took a drink of water. “I want you two to come home with me for Christmas and pretend to be my boyfriends so I can teach my family a lesson about love."

"You what?" Jeno squawked.

But Jaemin was staring at him, the beginnings of a smirk gracing his face. "Why is this so important to you? Why now? Why us?"

“I'm fed up with it. They ask me the same thing every year. They never even considered that there might be other options. So I want to show them."

Jaemin perked up. "You want to come out to them?"

"That's part of it." Renjun spread his hands. "I want to teach them a lesson. Love isn't just between one boy and one girl. It can be between as many people of as many genders as you can make work. I want them to understand that. Which is why I need your help."

“Why us, though?” Jeno waved at Jaemin. “That was a good question.”

“Why, thank you, Jeno.”

“Shh.” Jeno put his hand over Jaemin’s mouth. “So?”

He didn’t know how to explain that he hadn’t wanted anyone else. “Well, Donghyuck is right out.” Renjun made a face. “Even if I could get the image of him sucking face with my cousin out of my head, he’s dating my cousin and they might want to come out someday. Mark’s … not subtle.”

They both nodded. “Good point.”

He shrugged. “I don’t have _that_ many friends. And I’m worried about bringing any girls along because they could focus on her or the fact that both are girls, if I chose that, and miss the actual point. So?”

"I don't know," Jeno sank further into the cushions. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I know it's asking a lot." Renjun played with his fingers. "Pretending to date, going to China instead of getting to see your families, going into a potentially homophobic situation … I know what I'm asking. I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important."

"Let's do it." Jaemin brought his hands together.

"What?"

"Let's do it," he repeated himself slowly. "You're right. They shouldn’t assume everyone is straight. They should learn that people like us exist and are valid." He gave a crooked grin. "Besides, I've always wanted to see China."

"Thank you." He couldn't bring himself to look at Jeno. "I don't think my family will take it that badly. They’ve never shown themselves to be outright homophobic, but if I'm wrong, you shouldn’t have to stay there. I have a friend we could stay with, or there are hotels. I wouldn’t want to put either of you through that.”

They looked to Jeno. He still looked hesitant. “Are you sure that bringing both of us is a good idea? I get why you want to bring a guy home, but won’t they already react strongly enough to that? Do you really want to bring polyamory into it?”

“I didn’t say it would be easy.” Renjun picked up his water glass, but rolled it between his hands instead of drinking. “But if I’m going to come out to them, and teach them something in doing it, I want them to know all of me.” He’d never actually said out loud before. “This isn’t just about me being bi and not wanting to get married. I want them to understand that you can love more than one person because I can, and if they’re going to accept or reject me, they’re going to do it for all of me.”

Jeno stared at him. Renjun didn’t know what his face showed, but it must have been effective, because Jeno bit his lip and glanced at Jaemin. Jaemin gave him puppy eyes. “Please?”

“Please?” Renjun repeated. 

Jeno sighed deeply. “Alright. Let's do it.”

“Really?”

Jeno nodded. "Jaemin is right, this is important."

His breath came a little easier. “Thank you so much. I’m sorry, I know I’m pulling you away from your families and this might not even work and—”

“Don’t worry so much, Injunnie,” Jeno cut him off. He reached over to pat Renjun’s hand. “Jaemin’s right, it’s a good thing you’re trying to do. And it’s just one Christmas. We’re not going to wither away just because we spend one Christmas away from our families.”

“Besides,” Jaemin added, “we’ll get to meet your family. That’s a nice Christmas in my book.”

He couldn’t keep himself from smiling at that. “Okay. Great. Thanks.” He hopped up and grabbed the empty basket from the table. “I’ll make sure to get you our traveling information in plenty of time so you can pack.” He made for the door.

Jaemin pulled him back by his elbow. “Not so fast, Junnie. Do you think we’ll make a convincing romantic trio without any practice?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jeno raised his eyebrows. “What he said.”

Jaemin rolled his eyes. “I’m not saying we should make out right here, don’t look at me like that. I just think we need some practice acting like a couple.”

“But we won’t be a couple,” Jeno shifted. “There’s three of us. A throuple?”

Jaemin gave his signature long suffering sigh. “You know what I mean. We don’t act like we’re together and if we just roll up there without practicing and try it, it’s going to be awkward and we’re going to get caught. We don’t have to go anywhere. Let’s just set up a few practice dates between now and when the semester ends for practice.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” Renjun admitted.

“Yes, I do have those sometimes.”

Renjun flipped him off, but couldn’t hold back his grin.

“So?’ Jaemin looked at Jeno. “Think you can handle that?”

“I mean, I guess?” Jeno looked at Renjun and shrugged. “If you think it’ll help.”

“I think he’s right.” Renjun moved his basket to the other arm. “We’ll be more convincing if we’ve had some practice.”

Jeno nodded.

“So, I’ll see you both tomorrow. We can figure out a day we’re all free to start practicing later, I think. There’s no rush.”

“Sure.” Jaemin waved, and Jeno walked him out.

Renjun went home with actual hope for his crazy plan.

***

Renjun went through the living room for the third time, checking that everything was in place. He had shoved their desks and couch to the walls, out of the way of the television. In their place, he had laid out several blankets and plenty of pillows. Nothing sharp remained on the floor, the movies were right where he’d left them. He checked the snacks in the kitchen again. Donghyuck laughed at him from the couch. Yangyang’s annoying laugh filtered tinnily through Donghyuck’s phone.

“ _What are you so worried for?_ ” his cousin called. “ _Aren’t these your friends? They know what you’re like at home._ ”

“Yeah, but this is different. I don’t want this to make things awkward.”

“I don’t think the cleanliness of our living room is going to make a difference in how awkward it is,” Donghyuck pointed out.

The doorbell rang. Renjun jumped. His annoying roommate and his annoying cousin—why had he thought the two of them would be good together, exactly?—only laughed harder. Renjun flipped them off and went to answer the door. Jeno and Jaemin both smiled at him as soon as they were visible.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” He moved back so they could come in. “I got things set up so the three of us could watch a movie. Donghyuck’s still here, but he’s on a video call with his boyfriend so I imagine he’ll disappear to his room soon enough. Or I’ll make him disappear.”

“Ooh, scary.” Jeno pretended to shiver, but Jaemin grinned. “Ooh, sexy.” They both disposed of their shoes and headed down the hall. Renjun closed the door. Jaemin paused to hang up his coat. “What are you gonna do to him?”

“I don’t think he needs to do much.” Jeno peered into the living room. “They look pretty busy.”

Renjun joined them. Donghyuck hadn’t left yet, but he and Yangyang seemed to be pretty engrossed in whatever they were talking about. He almost felt bad for interrupting them, but they were far too prone to mocking him to be allowed to stay.

“Can you take your sappy talk elsewhere?” he requested. “We’re gonna be a little busy in here.”

Donghyuck stuck his tongue out and Yangyang said something in German that sounded rude, but they left for Donghyuck’s room. Renjun plopped down on the blanket among the pillows he had set out in front of their tv set. Jeno dropped down next to him, but Jaemin wandered around a little first. He went into the kitchen and came back with the bowl of mixed snacks Renjun had made. “You really put effort into this, huh?”

“It wasn’t that much, I just moved some furniture.” Renjun picked up the remote. “I have _Fast & the Furious_ set up first, unless you want to switch to something else?”

Jaemin shrugged, but Jeno applauded, so the choice was made. He started the movie.

It took a few minutes for Jaemin to implement whatever plan he had concocted. His hand crept over until it rested on Renjun’s. Renjun started, but didn’t move away. Hands weren’t so bad. He held hands with people sometimes; boyfriends always did, and it would be very convincing to hold hands with them. He didn’t even flinch when Jaemin scooted closer. It wasn’t until he leaned in to whisper in Renjun’s ear that he encountered a problem. Jaemin was very close, his breath was very warm, and he was whispering right in Renjun’s ear. He shivered.

“Hold Jeno’s hand,” Jaemin instructed. “We all need to get comfortable with each other.”

“What about the two of you, then?” Renjun protested even as he sent his hand skimming across the blanket to find Jeno’s. Somehow Jeno’s hand was a little less intimidating than Jaemin’s. Maybe it was because while Jeno enjoyed cuddling, he rarely sought it out (whereas Jaemin did all the time). Jeno didn’t seem to mind; he even turned his hand palm up and entwined their fingers.

“Jeno and I cuddle all the time, remember? We’re not worried about holding hands, I’m more worried about getting _you_ used to _us_ first.”

Well, he had a point. Jeno and Jaemin were practically attached at the hip, had been ever since he’d met them. It didn’t really matter where they were or what they were doing, one of them would end up all over the other. Renjun tried to relax into the hand holding and concentrate on the movie. At least it was one he’d seen a million times.

He had almost forgotten the purpose of the exercise when Jaemin stepped it up. He scooted even closer, dropping Renjun’s hand. Instead, he wrapped that arm around Renjun’s shoulders and drew him into the curve of his body. He couldn’t help how his muscles locked up immediately; his hand tightened around Jeno’s enough to make Jeno look around. He smiled when he saw how close the two were.

“Try to relax,” Jaemin whispered right in his ear again. “This is why I suggested we practice. Your family won’t believe us if you lock up every time we get close to you.”

Renjun nodded, forcing himself to breathe slowly. “I’m just not used to this.”

“I know.” Jaemin rubbed his head against Renjun’s like a cat. “That’s why we’re practicing.”

Jaemin stroked the back of Renjun’s hand with his free one. That was alright, that was familiar. Renjun focused on the touches to his hands and the explosions on the screen until the position they sat in felt a little less strange. Slowly, he loosened until he sagged into Jaemin’s side, until it would be almost indistinguishable where Jaemin started and Renjun ended.

“Good. Now get Jeno over here so you can get used to him.”

Renjun tugged on Jeno’s hand until he looked around. Then he tugged some more. Jeno scooted closer. They were doing this for him, so he should challenge himself, right? He pulled Jeno over until the other boy tipped into his lap. He locked up again, but not as badly as before. Jeno didn’t seem to mind at all, though he did let go of Renjun’s hand. He made himself comfortable, lying with his torso splayed across Renjun’s legs.

Jeno was very warm. The gentle weight on his legs was soothing, if he didn’t think too hard about why it was there. Again, his muscles unlocked slowly until he leaned loose and comfortable against Jaemin, under Jeno. Why had he been worried, when it felt so nice between them? 

When the credits rolled, Renjun untangled himself from the boys to turn off the movie and turned on the lights. He almost didn’t want to get up, they had been so warm and nice. But it had to be done. Jeno sat up. Jaemin stretched, flashing a strip of skin near his waistband. Renjun looked away. Why was he even looking there? He got up to start putting the room back together. Jeno took the snacks back to the kitchen. Renjun grabbed one end of the couch. Before he could start the slow process of moving it back, Jaemin grabbed the other end. “Did you move this yourself?”

Renjun shrugged. “Donghyuck helped with the couch, but Yangyang called before we got to the desks.”

“Hmm. We can help you put this stuff back before we leave, you know.”

Renjun picked up his end. “Thanks.” They walked the couch back into place. The desks were easier to push back into place. Once everything was back, Jaemin started dragging Jeno toward the door. 

“Hey.”

“It’s late, we should let Renjun sleep.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean that you have to drag me," Jeno whined. He got Jaemin to let go of him and waved to Renjun when they reached the door. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight." Renjun locked the door behind them and went right to bed, for his own sanity.

***

Renjun fidgeted in front of the door to Jeno and Jaemin’s apartment. After the last few “dates,” when Jeno and Jaemin came over or picked him up, he had insisted on going over himself. Why was it so nerve-wracking, standing out here alone like this? They had been practicing practically every week. He shouldn’t be getting nervous, especially not after the way Jaemin had embarrassed all of them at the ice rink last time.

Jeno opened the door before he could psych himself out any further. He gave that eye smile that made everyone soft for him. “Hey, you’re early! Why didn’t you use your key?” He wore dark jeans and a simple button-up shirt that should not fit him as well as it did.

“Oh, sorry.” Renjun stuck his hands in his pockets. “I was getting bored at home so I just came over. I hadn’t gotten that far yet.”

“No, it’s fine, why would that be a problem? Get in here. I think Jaemin’s still changing.” Jeno backed away from the open door. Renjun stepped in, toeing off his shoes. He was almost as comfortable with this place as he was with his own apartment by now.

“Are you ready for finals?” Jeno followed him back into the living room. “Because I’m genuinely afraid that I’m going to die.”

“You’re not going to die.” Renjun leaned against the couch. “We’ll all be fine. I might have to murder someone, but we’ll be fine.”

Jeno laughed, eyes almost closing. “Please don’t murder anyone. Just take the test, please.”

“I hate physics,” Renjun whined. “I don’t want to do any more of it.”

“Just take the test,” Jaemin said as he came out of his room. “It’s better than going to jail for homicide.”

Renjun couldn’t even say anything to that. It wasn’t fair, how good Jaemin looked just then. “Why did you get so dressed up?” Truthfully, the jeans and turtleneck weren’t that fancy, but the overall effect was staggering. Renjun gestured at him. “We’re just going to a movie.”

“Yeah but we’re practicing real dates.” Jaemin grabbed his jacket. “This is what I do for real dates. It would be disingenuous not to do so now, right?”

Renjun exchanged a glance with Jeno. “I mean, I guess?”

“Great.” Jaemin patted down his pockets and disappeared into his room, only to return with his wallet. “Let’s go.”

It took no time at all to reach the movie theater. When he got out of the car, Jaemin and Jeno put him between them again—they had been doing that a lot, to make sure he was used to both of them—and took his hands as they walked.

By now, holding hands was nothing. It felt a little different to hold hands out in public with both of them, but it wasn’t bad or uncomfortable, just _more_. When they got to the ticketing booth, Jaemin dropped Renjun’s hand, insisting on buying the tickets, and left them there. Jeno started playing with Renjun’s fingers.

“What are you doing?” He didn’t even bother stopping Jeno as he asked.

Jeno shrugged. “This fake dating thing is kind of fun, isn’t it?”

“I mean, it’s not terrible.” Jeno traced patterns into Renjun’s hand. It tickled. “But I’m not sure if that’s the fake dating thing itself or if it’s that the three of us doing it.”

Jeno gave that eye smile again. He was much too good at that. “Yes, that’s true. I don’t think I’d want to do this with anyone else. I might be willing to help Donghyuck or Mark out if they really needed it, like if they had a stalker or something, but that’s different.”

“Hmm.” Before Renjun could ask how exactly it was different to Jeno, Jaemin was back with the tickets. He waved them in the air.

“Look what I got!”

“Yes, the tickets,” Renjun deadpanned. “Good job, Champ.”

Jaemin giggled. He grabbed Jeno’s hand and pulled them both into the theater. It didn’t seem hard at all for the two of them to fake this, even if they focused more on Renjun for skinship purposes. Sometimes Renjun wondered if there was more there; but he had to be imagining things. They would have told him if they had feelings for each other, right? The crowd in the theater was sparse, leaving plenty of space for the three of them to sit together. They found seats in the order they’d walked in, sandwiching Jeno between them for once. It was nice not to be right in the middle for five seconds.

Of course it only lasted about five seconds because Jeno remembered the point of the “date” was to acclimate Renjun and made him switch seats. Renjun rolled his eyes when Jeno waved him up, but moved over.

He settled into the middle seat. It wasn’t as overwhelming as it had been, being between them. Jaemin took is hand, intertwining their fingers, but seemed interested enough in the movie not to mess with him. But Jeno. Jeno had either decided this was a fun game or had been possessed by some kind of flirtatious devil. As soon as the trailers started, he pushed up the arm between their seats and draped himself all over Renjun. It wasn’t uncomfortable the way it had been weeks ago; it was actually kind of nice to be draped over. But it was also overwhelming, having either of them so close. Then Jaemin noticed Jeno’s antics and grinned. That smile held no mercy. Renjun lost all focus on the trailers as Jaemin moved.

Jaemin brought their joined hands up so he could brush a kiss over Renjun’s knuckles. Renjun’s skin heated, but it was safe in the dark theater. Jaemin kept at that for a while, almost absentmindedly while the movie began to play. Then he really got started. He didn’t get in Jeno’s way, but dropped their joined hands to Renjun’s knee before setting his hand solidly around Renjun’s thigh.

At this rate, they’d walk all over him. He couldn’t allow that. Renjun took Jeno’s hand in his, playing with his fingers the way Jeno had been doing to him earlier. It felt weird at first; he really didn’t know what he was doing. Jeno had liked examining every one of Renjun’s fingers. Renjun found he didn’t like that, so settled for drawing little circles on Jeno’s palm.

This wasn’t that bad. He made sure not to look at Jaemin straight on so he couldn’t sense anything coming. There wasn’t that much he could do with Jeno draped all over him, but he still had a little wiggle room. He scooted over, dragging Jeno with him, until he could lean his head on Jaemin’s shoulder. Jaemin twitched, but seemed pretty happy with it. He rested his head against Renjun’s. 

If anyone were to look over and actually see them, they probably looked like a perfectly happy triad right now. His stomach dropped a little, which made no sense. Renjun forced himself to focus on the movie until it went away. 

***

Donghyuck paced in front of the airport window like it would make the plane arrive faster; it was driving Renjun crazy. He couldn’t even get up and make Donghyuck stop because Jeno had fallen asleep on him and he wasn’t heartless enough to wake him. He settled back against the airport seat next to Jaemin.

“Would you please calm down? The plane isn’t going to come any faster just because you want to see your boyfriend.”

Dongyhuck stuck his tongue out at Renjun. “Listen, just because you have two cute boys right here with you, that doesn’t mean you should make fun of my suffering.”

Because that made everything better? Renjun opened his mouth.

Jaemin laughed. “Aren’t you being a little too dramatic, Hyuckie? We’ll be there in 3 hours and you’ve gone months without seeing each other in person, you can make it less than one more day.”

He sniffed. “Still.”

Renjun rolled his eyes. Jeno made a little noise in his sleep and cuddled closer. “So, why is Jeno so tired, exactly?”

Jaemin shrugged. “All I know is he was up before me this morning. Maybe he was too excited about the trip last night?

Finally, they started boarding. Donghyuck practically dragged them all up to the desk so they could get on the plane. They had managed to book four seats in the same row, but on the large plane that meant three on one side and one across the aisle. Donghyuck claimed the lone aisle seat immediately and stored his bag, leaving Renjun with Jaemin and Jeno on the other side. Jeno wanted the window seat. He got it. Jaemin turned to Renjun as Jeno stored his bags and climbed in.

“Which seat would you rather have?”

“Oh, I …” He played with the end of his jacket sleeves. “The aisle, I guess. Is that okay?”

Jaemin just smiled and took Renjun’s carry-on. He stored all their luggage above before taking the middle seat. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Renjun shrugged. He sat carefully. Jeno didn’t seem to be paying attention, peering out the window at the loading gear. He saw something interesting and grabbed at Jaemin’s arm to make him look. Jaemin indulged Jeno by peeking. Renjun buckled himself in. After Jaemin leaned back, Jeno ended up leaning on him. 

Donghyuck was watching them when Renjun glanced over, wiggling his eyebrows at Renjun. Renjun mouthed ‘ _what?_ ’ Donghyuck just smiled and shook his head. Bastard.

He was too used to flying to pay much attention to the safety instructions or take-off. By the time the seatbelt light flickered off, he had drifted enough not to care that his head rested on Jaemin’s shoulder.

*

Renjun jolted awake when the plane touched down. He startled upright. Had he been sleeping on Jaemin? He checked Jaemin’s shoulder, but he hadn’t drooled, thank God.

“Oh, you’re up.” Jaemin brushed Renjun’s hair back into place. “Don’t worry, there’s still a few minutes before we’re really done. But we should probably all wake up, huh?” He nudged Jeno gently enough to stir him awake.

“Oh, we both really used you as a pillow, huh? Sorry.” Renjun twisted to stretch his back and his neck. Nice as Jaemin was to cuddle with, he didn’t make the best pillow.

Jaemin shook his head. “It’s fine, I didn’t really want to move. And anyway, I like seeing you comfortable.”

Renjun didn’t know what to say to that, or to the sincerity in Jaemin’s gaze. He turned to check on his bag.

The PA system crackled on. The pilot began giving instructions for disembarking, first in Mandarin, then in Korean and English. They clambered out of their seats to get their luggage and get off the plane.

Yangyang waited for them just outside customs, hands in his pockets. Donghyuck dropped his bags and sprinted for his boyfriend. Renjun waved and then turned around so he wouldn’t have to see affection. Jaemin was grinning, Jeno blushing a little.

“They’re cute,” Jaemin cooed. “Why do you complain about them so much?”

“Because they’re annoying. My cousin is worse than Donghyuck.”

Jeno snorted. “Mark says no one is worse than Donghyuck.”

“He hasn’t met Yangyang.” Renjun was jerked back when someone grabbed him from behind.

“What are these lies you’re spreading about me?” Yangyang’s Korean had improved since he started dating Donghyuck. He grinned at Jeno and Jaemin over Renjun’s shoulder. “Are you the fake boyfriends?”

“We are.” Jeno glanced between Jaemin and Renjun. “I’m Jeno, and this is Jaemin. We’re Renjun’s friends from school.”

“I know.” Yangyang let him go to inspect the two. “Donghyuck talks about you a lot.”

“Does Renjun?” Jaemin exchanged greetings with Yangyang.

Yangyang shrugged. “Renjun doesn’t talk about much when he talks to me.”

Renjun just shrugged when they looked at him. Usually, Yangyang called for family stuff, not to hear about Renjun’s friends.

Donghyuck latched onto Yangyang again. “They both spend more time talking to me anyway. And stop hogging my boyfriend.”

“Seriously?” Renjun shoved Donghyuck’s luggage at him.

“Yeah, it’s not like we’re going to get much time together in public once we’re at your house.”

“Speaking of,” Yangyang cut off anything Renjun might have said by holding up a set of keys. “I only have my parking spot for another few minutes because I parked right out front. So we should maybe go?”

“We’re gonna die.” But they didn’t have much choice, so Renjun led his friends after Yanyang to the car and helped load everything in. Donghyuck got into the front seat to hold hands with Yangyang. Jaemin ushered Jeno and then Renjun into the car before climbing in himself.

The trip to his house felt both longer and shorter than usual. What would he even say? He was almost glad when Jeno started patting his knee.

“Don’t worry about it so much,” Jeno told him. “Whatever happens will happen, but it’s not like you can do anything about it right now. And we’re all here for you if it doesn’t go well.”

Jaemin just smiled, but between the two of them, it was enough to help settle him.

Even Donghyuck twisted in his seat to look back at Renjun. “Listen,” he started. “You’re parents aren’t terrible homophobes or you would probably have heard about it. They’ll be confused, probably doubly confused, but they’re not going to kick us out. And if they do, we’ll yell at them.”

“He’s right,” Yangyang added as he pulled up to a stoplight. “Your parents aren’t the ones to worry about. They’ll probably need to hear it a few times, but you should be fine.” 

That settled the churning in his gut a little. Renjun gave them a smile. “Thanks. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He wasn’t the only one involved here, he had to make sure Jeno and Jaemin were treated well. Their car pulled up in front of his house and they piled out. Renjun led the group up to the door. Just like every year before and yet so different, he rang the bell and waited for his mother to open the door with Donghyuck by his side. Yangyang ducked to the back with the bags while they waited.

She swung the door open with a wide grin. “ _My baby, welcome home._ ” She grabbed him in a hug, then Donghyuck. “ _Where’s the girl you brought me?_ ”

Renjun spotted Jeno and Jaemin both smirking at him before they wiped their faces clean. Assholes. Well, it would be better to get her out of the way before the rest of the family descended on them.

“ _Mom, I never said I was bringing a girl home._ ” He pushed back a little so he could reach Jeno and Jaemin. “ _I said I was bringing someone home. It’s actually two someones._ ” He grabbed them both by the hand and pulled them into the house. “ _This is Jaemin, and this is Jeno. They’re my boyfriends._ ” Behind him, a suitcase thumped to the ground.

Jeno blushed a little and Jaemin preened, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for them. His mother stared.

“ _Your what?_ ”

“ _These are my boyfriends. The three of us are dating._ ” Behind his mother, Donghyuck pulled a face, probably at his wording. He stopped when Renjun glared at him and tried to make a supportive face.

His mother blinked. Once, twice, a third time. “ _I don’t understand the words you’re saying to me, but welcome._ ” She greeted first Jaemin, then Jeno. “ _Renjun’s only ever brought Donghyuck home for the holidays, so we weren’t sure he knew anyone else._ ”

He wasn’t sure if her acting almost normally was a good thing or not. At least she had not mentioned girls since he introduced them.

“ _Of course I know other people, Mom,_ ” he sighed. “ _Just no one ever wanted to come here when they have their own families to go home to._ ”

“ _Except me!_ ” Donghyuck stepped inside, dragging his suitcase behind him. “ _But you like me best, right?_ ”

His mother laughed. She pushed Donghyuck to start heading down the hall. “ _Sure, child. That’s what I think. Go find the rest of the family while these boys bring in the bags._ ” Yangyang slipped past them all with a quick hug for Renjun’s mother.

“ _Why does he get to relax while we bring in luggage?_ ” Renjun opened the door anyway. 

“ _Because he brought his luggage in with him, silly boy._ ” She waited while they piled out and then back in. “ _Now, go introduce your guests before you put your things away._ ”

She closed the door as they headed down the hall. Jeno leaned over. “That wasn’t too bad?”

“I think she might be in shock,” Renjun muttered back. “I’m still waiting for the questions. Let’s see how the rest of the family takes it before we decide good or bad.”

Jaemin kept quiet, but stood tall as they entered the main room. Donghyuck had already moved in with Yangyang, stuck close to the boy’s side while they chatted with Renjun’s family. He still found it odd, even a year later, that none of them seemed to notice what was between the boys. They were not being subtle even if they didn’t do public displays of affection. Donghuck nodded when they spotted them, and Yangyang waved. Renjun dropped his bag when his father spotted them and came over.

They hugged briefly. “ _Welcome home_.”

“ _Hi, Dad._ ” Renjun stepped back to put a hand on each of Jeno and Jaemin’s arms. “ _This is Jeno, and this is Jaemin._ ” His mother came back into the room just as he said again, “ _These are my boyfriends._ ”

The room stood stock still. He he tried to keep his lungs clear as the air grew more cloying by the second.

“ _It’s nice to meet you,_ ” Renjun’s father said, sounding lost. “ _We didn’t know Renjun would be bringing this many guests, so I’m afraid we didn’t set aside any other rooms for you._ ”

“ _That’s okay._ ” Renjun grabbed his bag. “ _We’ll just share a room, my bed is big enough_.”

“ _That would be rude of us_.” His mother wrung her hands. “ _You shouldn’t have to share a room._ ”

“ _No, it’s fine_.” He pulled up his suitcase. This whole thing felt weird. “ _It’s like the first time I brought Hyuck back here and you didn’t know he was coming. We just shared my room. We can do that again. It’ll be fine._ ”

He motioned Jeno and Jaemin toward the stairs before she could object again. Donghyuck and Yangyang followed them. His heart pounded, but he tried to walk calmly to the stairs. One of his uncles coughed. “ _So …_ ”

He slowed down once they got upstairs. Jeno and Jaemin caught up, following him down the hall. 

“Ooh, what’s this?” Jeno stopped in front of a series of photos on the wall. Renjun pulled up short. Donghyuck laughed, but Jaemin crossed to look, too. “Is this you as a kid?”

“Look at you,” Jaemin crooned. He slung an arm over Jeno’s shoulder. “You were such a cute baby.”

“Is that from last year?” Jeno pointed at a photo of Renjun in front of the campus library, waving at the camera. “How did they get this?”

“I bring Renjun’s mom pictures every year.” Donghyuck smirked. “He hates it.”

“Because you get like this.” Renjun shoved them all away from the pictures. “Can we please just move to the bedroom?”

“Sure we can.” Jaemin wiggled his eyebrows ridiculously. Renjun smacked him gently before shoving him toward his room. Renjun opened the door to his room. He hadn’t been wrong about his bed; the guest bed his parents had moved in was a queen size—plenty enough space for two people, a bit of a tight fit for three, but they could make it work.

Donghyuck ducked into his room and came out without his bag. Renjun held the door open so the other four could pile into his room before he dropped his own bags against the wall by the door and dragged it closed.

“So,” he sat on the bed. “That didn’t go that badly.”

“It seemed like it went pretty well to me?” Jaemin sat next to him. “But then my grasp of Chinese isn’t that great, so they could have been insulting me. I was just going off body language at one point.”

Renjun glanced at the others. “What do you think?”

“Honestly?” Donghyuck glanced at Yangyang. “I don’t think they got it.”

“I called them my boyfriends, what do you think they didn’t get? The concept?”

“No, I think he means,” Yangyang started as he leaned his weight against his boyfriend. “She, and probably the rest of the family, literally didn’t understand the word you used.”

“What word did he use?” Jeno asked. He perched on the bed on Renjun’s other side, almost sat against his pillows. Despite everything, it was nice to have them here, to see them in his childhood home.

“Ah, I should have thought of that.” He turned to Jeno. “I’m used to talking to people my age about this kind of thing, so I used a slang term for boyfriend—and not one a girl would use for her boyfriend—I didn’t realize it would confuse them. There are more formal words they might know, but even that might confuse them because they’d be used to hearing them used for straight relationships.”

“Oh.” Jeno nodded. “So they might just be extremely confused because they didn’t understand what you said?”

“Possibly.” Renjun frowned. “I would have thought that the ‘we’re dating’ part would explain it but that’s probably where the not understanding LBGT at all comes in.”

“So brace yourselves,” Donghyuck said. “I think this could go over okay but there will probably be a lot of questions and a lot of not believing you first.”

“So, what now?” Jaemin stretched. “Go back downstairs and keep telling them until they get it?”

Renjun shrugged. “Basically? I’ll try to explain and then they probably will understand but not really get it and then we will have to answer questions and more questions and then this is where the cuddling and PDA will have to come in, so thanks for that, Nana.”

He smirked. “Anytime.”

Donghyuck smacked him upside the head. “You idiots take care. I’m going to go unpack.”

He dragged Yangyang with him, so unpacking probably wasn’t in the cards nearly as much as kissing in private.

They went back downstairs once they finished unpacking. The family was seated where they usually were still chatting. They turned almost as one when the five of them returned.

His mother came over to usher them to their seats. “ _Now,_ ” she started once they were sitting down. “ _We know you tried to introduce your guests to us and we got their names, but you kept calling them something that we didn’t quite catch._ ” The older family members nodded along, still looking confused. The younger members stayed quiet, but Renjun could tell they understood. They just didn’t want to step in over this, which was fair enough. “ _Is that a new slang for friends?_ ”

“ _Not exactly_.” Renjun settled himself into the couch. If he was in for the long haul, he might as well be comfortable. “ _I forgot you wouldn’t know that word specifically.. I meant that the three of us are all in a romantic relationship._ ”

That did it. The confusion hit like a wave. His parents cocked their heads in unison. Most of his cousins seemed to have gotten it the first time, but their parents looked at each other, back at him, then at their children. A couple asked his cousins; one of his uncles pulled out a phone to search up something. His grandmother simply stared at him with a puzzled frown. Renjun hid his shaking hands under his knees and focused on his parents.

“ _You’re dating?_ ” his father repeated. “ _I thought you were bringing a girl home for Christmas?_ ”

Renjun pinched the bridge of his nose. “ _No. I keep telling you, I never said I was bringing a girl home; I just said I was bringing ‘someone’ home. In this case, two people. I have never had a girlfriend while I’ve been in Korea, you just keep insisting that I should and asking me about girls._ ”

“ _So, what does this mean?_ ” His mother asked. “ _I don’t quite get how what you’re saying is supposed to work?_ ”

Renjun shrugged. “ _It’s not as different as you’re thinking, Mom. It’s just that instead of only two people dating, there are three of us._ ”

“ _What does that even mean, though?_ ” One of his older uncles spoke up. Yangyang drew himself up in Renjun’s periphery. At least his parents weren’t here. “ _You’re all boys, how are you supposed to date?_ ”

“ _Just like anyone else_ ,” Donghyuck muttered, just loud enough to be heard. “ _It’s not impossible just because you never did it._ ”

Renjun opened his mouth to try something—what, he still hadn’t decided—but Jaemin put his hand on Renjun’s knee. He smiled at the rest of the family. Renjun could practically see the older women in his family melting. Maybe some of the men, too. “ _Hello. My name is Na Jaemin. I’m one of Renjun’s boyfriends. It’s very nice to meet all of you; we’ve been looking forward to this trip. I know this must be a bit confusing, and I’m sorry for that. But please try to understand where we’re coming from. We didn’t come here to try to upset you, or confuse you unduly. We just wanted to spend Christmas with Renjun’s family, because he’s an important person to us._ ”

Jaemin was such a liar, saying his Chinese wasn’t good. His pronunciation was perfect, the bastard. His grammar wasn’t, but he made his points clearly and succinctly. Jeno wasn’t as good at Chinese as either of Renjun’s other friends here, but he clearly caught enough to know to play along. He nodded from Renjun’s other side, bringing out his eye smile. At least he had these two charmers with him.

“ _And you think coming in here and shoving this in our faces is the best way to do that?_ ” his uncle continued. “ _All you’re doing is upsetting the equilibrium here._ ”

“ _That isn’t what we’re trying to do_.” Renjun put his hand over Jaemin’s. “ _We just_ — _I want you to know me for who I am, not only what I do to please you._ ”

“ _And you’re not considering how that will affect the whole family?_ ”

“ _That’s enough_.” Renjun’s mother stepped in before he could snap back. “ _Don’t be rude to Renjun’s guests. He brought people to meet us, how can you shame us by being rude?_ ”

Renjun’s stomach quieted. She hadn't mentioned the boyfriends part but at least she was still defending him. Maybe Donghyuck had been right.

“ _Now_ ,” Renjun’s father seemed done with the topic for the moment. He turned to Donghyuck at the other end of the couch. “ _Tell us about the year, Hyuck. How have you and Renjun been?_ ”

Donghyuck immediately launched into a story from over the summer that had his relatives in stitches. As per the plan, Donghyuck wasn't going to bring up the boyfriend thing unless they asked more questions about it, though they had come up with a few stories to cement the overall fiction that Donghyuck would bring up if needed.

When the family had calmed a little, Renjun’s grandmother asked him how his year had been. Like last year, he talked about his classes and his other friends. Unlike last year, no one asked about girls. It was a relief, though the way they stared at each other made a different weight settle on him.

“ _I have a question,_ ” his grandmother said after a moment. “ _You’ve mentioned these two,_ ” she waved politely between Jaemin and Jeno, “ _before as friends. Were you leaving something out, or was this a new development?_ ”

Jeno must have understood enough to catch that, because he blushed. Renjun had to stop himself from blushing as well. “ _No, this is relatively new. Mom called me a while ago to ask if I was bringing anyone home; that was just a few weeks after we had started dating._ ” They had moved the timeline back a bit for the sake of realism. “ _I’ve met their families before, and since the holiday was coming up, we thought this would make a good time_.”

As he talked, Jaemin snaked an arm around his shoulders and tugged him over. It would have startled him even weeks ago, but they had been practicing so much that though he noticed he didn’t even pause in the flow of his conversation. He even took Jeno’s hand in his since he didn’t really feel like being crushed between two bodies. Jeno started playing with his fingers again.

His mother was staring but that could easily just be surprise at how easily Renjun was taking this. His father seemed to be trying not to stare, but the rest of the family didn’t even try to hide their looks. His grandmother only smiled and asked how they had come to start dating.

“ _Oh, it’s such a funny story_ ,” Donghyuck butted in. “ _Let me tell it_.”

“ _Are you really stealing my thunder right now?_ ”

“ _You don’t tell it right_.” Donghyuck waved him off and started telling the story they had made up. Supposedly, Renjun had been hiding his feelings for ages because of the difficulties of being in a three-person relationship. Donghyuck had been particularly insistent on this point. Renjun laid his head on Jaemin’s shoulder as Donghyuck retold the movie night that had been their first practice date as though he had watched it and seen Renjun confess.

It had been a good choice to let Donghyuck tell the story; he was a natural storyteller, and once he finished he even managed to turn the conversation to Yangyang’s year back at the local university. Yangyang shifted things onto another cousin after he finished, and Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin almost faded into the background. Renjun began to relax.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Jaemin asked quietly.

Renjun pointed. “See the kitchen? If you go straight through the room, there’s a hallway. The bathroom is the first door on your left.”

“Thanks.” He kissed the side of Renjun’s head and stood. “Don’t let anyone steal my seat.”

“As if I would,” he retorted, hoping he wasn’t blushing. Jeno turned away from his conversation with Donghyuck and Yangyang as Jaemin left.

“Where’s he going?”

“Bathroom.”

“Ohh.” He turned back to trying to make conversation with Yanyang, but didn’t stop toying with Renjun’s hand. Renjun peeked at the rest of his family. They were trying not to stare and only somewhat succeeding. But they weren’t really doing anything; his mother had shut down the only outburst. That was better than he had hoped for.

Jaemin wandered back in. There was a mischievous glint in his gaze. He sauntered over. “Did you miss me?”

“You were gone for like three minutes.” Renjun sat up to make a little more room.

“That’s not the point.” Jaemin pulled a fake sad face. “I was gone, didn’t you miss me?”

Renjun rolled his eyes. Jeno hadn’t even noticed Jaemin coming back. Jaemin didn’t seem to appreciate it, because he crouched in front of Jeno and started giving him little kisses all over his face. Jeno started giggling. The rest of the room was staring, but no one seemed inclined to say anything. At least his younger cousins didn’t seem to mind, which he actually hadn’t expected.

“What are you doing?” Renjun demanded. “Were you that attention deprived going to the bathroom?”

“Yes.” Jaemin gave up when Jeno finally pushed him off. But then he sat down and started doing the same thing to Renjun.

Renjun refused to giggle, but the onslaught of affection left him warmer than he ever would have expected. By the time Jaemin settled down, Rejun was much closer to his lap and tired out. Jaemin made a better pillow than he had expected. He tugged on Jeno’s arm and until Jeno was leaning on him, too. Jeno didn’t seem to mind. He kept on talking to Yangyang from his half-recline. Renjun tried to keep track of the conversation, but it was so warm, sitting in his childhood home between his two boyfriends. He drifted.

“ _Baby_.” His mother appeared in front of them, bending to touch his face gently. Renjun blinked up at her. “ _Sleep in your bed, not on the couch_.”

“ _Huh? Oh._ ” Renjun sat up. The relatives who lived further away had left sometime when he wasn’t paying attention. The uncle who had raised objections was gone; had he been the first to leave? The others were slipping out now. “ _Right._ ”

His mother patted his head. “ _Show your boys where the bathroom is, alright?_ ” She went to help his grandmother before he fully registered what she had said. He turned to Jaemin, who watched him with a small smile and an emotion he couldn’t name. 

“Time for bed, Injunnie?”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’re falling asleep on me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is that a problem now?”

“Not in general,” Jaemin nudged Jeno gently upright as well. “But I don’t really want to sleep sitting up on this couch.”

“That’s fair.”

Jeno was even closer to sleep than Renjun had been. It took both of them to get him up and moving, and even then he was still sleepy. Donghyuck and Yangyang waved them off from where they were practically cuddling on the couch. They had taken advantage of all the confusion over Renjun’s relationship status to get closer than usual.

Renjun had almost forgotten about the sharing a bed thing until they dumped Jeno in the middle of his bed. It was big enough to fit them, he shouldn't be worried about this. He fluffed one of the pillows under Jeno’s head.

"He needs to brush his teeth." Renjun patted his leg. "Can we wake him up?"

"We can try." Jaemin dropped to the bed next to Jeno. "But he's a really deep sleeper. Once he's out, he's out."

Renjun shook him a few times, but gave up when Jeno didn’t even move. They got him turned the right direction in the bed and covered him with an extra blanket. Renjun showed Jaemin to the upstairs bathroom. Getting ready for bed together didn't take too long, but the sheer domesticity of it weirded him out. Was this what Jeno and Jaemin were usually like?

Renjun waved Jaemin on when they got back to his room. "Pick your side. I don't care where I sleep."

"Hmmm." Jaemin considered the bed before clambering over Jeno. He laid himself out with an arm over Jeno's chest and grinned up at Renjun. "Come on."

"You're enjoying this too much," Renjun grumbled, but he slipped into bed next to Jeno. The bed was large enough that with Jaemin and Jeno snuggled up together, Renjun had space to himself. Even with Jeno just inches away, his side of the bed felt a little cold.

"I think I'm enjoying this just the right amount." Jaemin stretched to pat Renjun's shoulder. "Sleep well, Renjun."

"Goodnight, Jaemin." He couldn’t adjust to the extra bodies near him, the breathing. Jeno’s weight on the sheets kept him from moving far. He’d shared this bed before, why was this so much harder? Renjun rolled onto his side. Jeno’s sleeping face was the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes. Eventually, he drifted off to the chorus of even breathing beside him.

***

Renjun drifted awake much too warm. He couldn't move, either, as a warm weight pushed him back down when he tried to sit up. He peeked over his shoulder. Jeno had migrated to crush Renjun in his sleep. Because Jaemin had grabbed onto Jeno in his sleep, Renjun lay crushed under the weight of two boys for the price of one.

Renjun wiggled around until Jeno grumbled and turned over in his sleep. Freedom brought fresh air but also a strange sense of loss. He brushed it off and went to get dressed. He couldn't really go downstairs alone after introducing his boyfriends to the entire family, it would be too awkward.

He perched on the end of his own bed to wait for them to wake up. Jeno had rolled right into Jaemin’s arms and basically tucked himself under Jaemin’s chin. They made a cute pair like that. It didn’t take long for Jeno to stir, yawning. "Good morning." Jeno rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" He didn’t seem bothered by his position.

"It's still early." Renjun pointed at the clock on the bedside table. "I think we're jet lagged. We had to put you to bed without brushing your teeth last night because you were so tired, so you might want to do that first."

Jeno sat up, trying to smell his breath. "Yeah, I'd like that. Where's the bathroom?"

"At the end of the hall."

Jeno, in turn, had to maneuver his way out of Jaemin's arms still around his waist. He got his toiletries and some clothes out of his bag and disappeared to the bathroom. Renjun returned to watching Jaemin sleep. That sounded a little creepy, except that he didn’t have anything else to do and it would be kind of funny to see what happened when he finally woke up. He did look very sweet asleep.

Jaemin’s awakening was disappointing, actually, because he woke up pretty calmly and then only blinked at Renjun sleepily when he noticed where they were positioned. “Good morning. Where’s Jeno?”

“He went to brush his teeth,” Renjun waved at the door, “Since he didn’t get to last night. I think he’ll probably get dressed while he’s gone, too.”

“Ah.” Jaemin yawned. He sat up, rubbing his face. “It feels early.”

“It is early.” Renjun pointed at the clock again. “But that’s good because breakfast is soon and I was going to have to wake us all up anyway before Donghyuck came in here to do it for us.”

“Donghyuck does that?”

“He’s obsessed with my mom’s food.” Renjun shrugged. “But even after years of coming back here for winter breaks with me, he still doesn’t feel comfortable just going downstairs by himself so he wakes me up as soon as he thinks he can get away with it and makes me go downstairs with him to get breakfast.”

Jaemin laughed. “So he’ll be coming here soon, then?”

“Unless we get into the hallway before he can get in here, yes.”

Jaemin kept giggling. It lit up his face even after he calmed down. He stretched, revealing a bit of skin between his shirt and pants. Renjun looked away. “Why does he come here every year, anyway? I know things aren’t great at home, but why here? Is he that attached to your family?”

“I think so.” Renjun picked at the bedsheet. “I think you would have to ask him to get the whole story, but yes, things aren’t great at home. The whole thing started the first year I was in Korea, the first year I brought him back with me. It was pretty bad, and he really wanted to be unreachable for the holidays, so I brought him home. I don’t think he’s ever said anything to my parents about it, but he really appreciated coming here. They welcomed him because he was my friend, and he needed that. They’ve bonded since, I think, but he still thinks it would be rude to go downstairs by himself.”

“Ah.” Jaemin bit his lip. “Were you worried about that, when you decided to do this?”

Had he? Renjun stood. “Not until we actually got here, ridiculous as that is. I didn’t really think about the possibility of them taking it badly until after I’d already arranged everything.” He laughed. “I was just so frustrated.”

“That’s understandable.” Jaemin got up to look for his bag. “I’m glad you weren’t, though. It sounds less stressful that way.”

Renjun shrugged and retrieved his things. “Maybe. You remember where the bathroom is, right?”

“Yes.” Jaemin opened the door for him. “But I can just follow you, can’t I?”

“Maybe I’m going somewhere else.”

“You’re not.” Jaemin gestured toward the end of the hall. “Are you?”

“Well, no.” Renjun led him back down the hall to the bathroom. The door was closed, so he knocked. 

“Come in,” Jeno called. Renjun opened the door and walked in on Jeno shirtless. He froze. Jaemin whistled. Jeno looked around. “What?”

“Put a shirt on, would you?” Jaemin nudged Renjun into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. “Unless you want to give the house a show.”

“Shut up.” Jeno pulled a shirt on, and Renjun could move again. He set his toiletries on the sink and got to work, avoiding the corner where Jaemin was changing his clothes. Jeno sat on the edge of the tub instead of leaving when he finished changing, so Renjun joined him after putting away his toiletries. Jaemin slipped past both of them to get to the sink.

“I wasn’t going to give the house a show,” Jeno told him.

Renjun rolled his eyes. “I know, Jaemin’s just stupid.”

“Hey!”

Jeno laughed. “You’re so mean.”

“I’m just telling the truth,” Renjun smiled while Jaemin whined and Jeno giggled. Maybe this wasn’t so bad.

When they finally emerged from the bathroom, Donghyuck waited with crossed arms and a sleepy boyfriend. “Well, well, well, look who’s finally awake,” he drawled. “It’s time for food, hurry up.”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend right there?” Renjun pointed at Yangyang. “Can’t he go eat with you? Why do you need us?”

“Because it’s your house,” Donghyuck pointed out, “and your parents, and though we could cover for it we’re not out yet. I don’t want to give them things to wonder about. Besides, why should I make him suffer when I have you to torture?”

Renjun lunged for Donghyuck. Jaemin caught him around the waist and pulled him back toward Jeno. Jeno pet at Renjun’s hair. Where that used to only annoy him, it actually calmed him down a bit. There wasn’t that much of a need to kill Donghyuck yet. He could always get to it later. He sneered at his friend. “You’re making him suffer by getting up this early, you know.”

“He was awake already.”

“Why don’t I believe that?”

They looked to Yangyang. He raised a hand. “I was actually awake already, I’m just still tired.”

“Hmm.” Renjun pursed his lips. “Could that possibly be because you snuck into Hyuck’s room and stayed up too late?”

Yangyang put a hand over his mouth. “No, why would you think that?”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go.” Donghyuck took Yangyang’s hand to lead them downstairs. Renjun ended up on one side of Jaemin, with Jeno on the other, as they followed. When Jaemin slipped his hand into Renjun’s, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to take Jeno’s, too.

His parents were already up. His father sat at the table, reading the newspaper like he always did while his mother cooked. She was making his favorite breakfast. He smiled at them, perhaps a bit warily, over the newspaper when he spotted them. “ _Good morning, boys._ ”

“ _Good morning_ ,” they chorused.

“ _What’s for breakfast?_ ” Donghyuck asked. He had dropped Yangyang’s hand sometime in their rush toward the table after getting downstairs. Yangyang didn’t seem to mind, though he kept his gaze on Donghyuck with an intensity that practically screamed ‘love.’ Hopefully, this went well enough that they would be able to take a chance someday.

“ _Steamed buns and rice noodles. Sit, sit._ ” His father waved them into seats. Donghyuck and Yangyang sat next to his father on one side of the table, leaving a seat open for his mother on the short end. Renjun sat opposite his father, while Jaemin and Jeno took the two seats at the other end.

His mother carried some plates over to the table. Jaemin and Jeno both stood to offer help. She waved them off. “ _Thank you, but I can carry a couple of pots by myself. I couldn’t ask Renjun’s guests to do it._ ”

They sat back down. Jeno didn’t seem to mind, but it kind of looked like Jaemin was sulking. Renjun nudged him. “Are you okay?”

“I wanted to help,” he whispered back. “We’re supposed to be impressing your parents as your boyfriends. How am I supposed to do that when she won’t let me help?”

Renjun muffled a laugh behind his hand. “She sees you as a guest right now,” He told Jaemin. “You have to get her to see you as family. She wouldn’t let Donghyuck help out for ages. But it’s just a breakfast pot, don’t worry about it so much.”

Jaemin nodded, looking determined. “We can do that.” He turned to start whispering to Jeno. Weirdos. Renjun turned back to the table. His father was watching. “ _Hi?_ ”

“ _Hi._ ” He looked between Renjun and his boyfriends. “ _You seem happy._ ”

“ _I am happy._ ” It was true. Even with the stress of this visit, it was already turning out better than the stress of worrying about questions about girls. “ _Really._ ”

He hummed. Renjun’s mother came back with the food and let them start serving themselves.

“ _So,_ ” Renjun’s mother started once everyone was eating. “ _Tell me about yourselves, boys. You go to school with Renjun and Donghyuck, yes_?”

They nodded. Jeno glanced at Jaemin. “That was about school, right?” Jaemin nodded.

“ _We all go to school together._ ” Renjun passed them both napkins from the container next to him. “ _Jaemin’s pre-veterinary and Jeno’s studying history_.”

His mother smacked at his arm very gently. “ _I wasn’t asking you, I’m asking them. Stay out of it. Is that true, though?_ ” She turned back to the others. 

Jaemin nodded as Jeno whispered something to him. “ _Yes. Jeno wants me to tell you that he wants to be a teacher._ ”

“ _That’s a good career choice_ ,” said his father, the teacher. “ _What made you choose that?_ ”

“ _I like talking about history,_ ” Jeno said through Jaemin, who spoke slowly to make sure he said everything right. “ _And I like kids._ ”

“ _That’s sweet,_ ” his mother reached to pat Jaemin’s hand. “ _What about you, dear? You want to be a veterinarian?_ ”

Jaemin nodded. “ _I really like animals._ ”

“ _They’re more sensible than you are_ ,” his mother told him.

Renjun groaned. “ _Astronomy is a science, what more do you want from me?_ ”

Donghyuck laughed with his mother. Jeno leaned across Jaemin, who seemed to be trying not to laugh. “Did she say something about your major?”

“Shut up,” he groused.

“ _We tease him about that, too_ ,” Jeno told her mother carefully.

“ _Can we move on, please?_ ”

His mother laughed one more time before asking how they had met Renjun. Donghyuck fought Jaemin off to tell the story again, though this one was entirely true. It wasn’t even that interesting. Renjun and Donghyuck had walked into their freshman writing class and seen Jeno and Jaemin attached at the hip. Only, in Donghyuck’s version, it was practically love at first sight on all their parts. That was ridiculous; Renjun might have noticed that they were both attractive, and they’d certainly made friends quickly, but he hadn’t fallen in love, of all things. He pushed down a blush.

“ _So you three really are all dating?_ ” his mother asked cautiously when Donghyuck finished. Renjun braced himself for the response after he nodded. She frowned contemplatively. “ _What does that mean for you, with boys?_ ”

Renjun glanced over. Jeno seemed to be following the conversation; he was biting his lip. Jaemin spread his hands. “This sounds like more of a question for you?”

Right. Renjun turned back to his mother. “ _Are you asking what it means for us to be dating, or about me and what I do?_ ”

“ _About you_.”

He needed a moment to gather himself. “ _It’s not that I don’t like girls. It doesn’t matter what a person is, to me; I like whoever I like, which means I like boys, too. And I like them._ ” He waved at Jaemin and Jeno. “ _They’re good people. They’re good with me, good to me. I like spending time together. They make me happy. It’s not any different than if I was dating a girl, except for the logistics._ ”

“ _And the stares,_ ” Jaemin added. “ _If we’re being fair._ ”

Renjun shrugged. “ _And that people’s attitudes about it are different, and not always positive._ ”

His parents exchanged glances. Renjun couldn’t breathe, and he wasn’t sure if Donghyuck or Yangyang were, either. Jaemin set his hand on Renjun’s knee. Jeno seemed to be paying very close attention, but Renjun wasn’t sure how much he understood.

“ _Is that what you were worried about yesterday?_ ” his father asked. “ _That we wouldn’t take it well?_ ”

Renjun shrugged. “ _You’ve never talked about anything but me marrying a girl. I wasn’t sure what to think._ ”

They looked at each other again. “ _Renjun_ ,” his mother put a hand over his, “ _You know something like this doesn’t matter to us, right? Even if we’re still a little confused, we love you._ ”

Renjun had to bite down on his tongue until he knew he could speak clearly. “ _I know, Mom. I love you, too._ ” He turned his hand over to hold hers. He didn’t know what the others were doing, but he couldn’t look away from his parents. “ _I know it’s a lot to understand._ ”

She took her hand away only to stroke through his hair. His father watched with a fond gaze. “ _That’s okay, dear. We’ll figure it out._ ”

He took a moment to collect himself before checking on everyone else Yangyang had hidden his face behind Donghyuck, but Donghyuck smiled at him. Jaemin and Jeno seemed excited. His mother patted him one more time before she straightened.

“ _So,_ ” she turned back to his boys, “ _Why do you like my Renjun?_ ”

Jeno blushed. Jaemin brightened. “ _Oh, there’s so many things. He’s so cute, he doesn’t like to hear that, but he is. And he doesn’t want people to think he’s nice, but he’s so sweet! Have you seen him get all excited about stars?_ ” 

“ _He works really hard_ ,” Jeno added.

Renjun felt the blush before he saw Donghyuck and Yangyang smirking at him. “ _Do we really have to do this right now?_ ”

“ _Yes_ ,” his mother insisted. “ _I want to know why these boys like you._ ”

“ _And you heard why, can we move on to something else?_ ”

“ _Aw, are you embarrassed by how much we like you?_ ” Jaemin cooed. Renjun saw red, but he couldn’t chase Jaemin around his parents’ house, so he settled for pinching his thigh. Thankfully, his mother only laughed and changed the subject. They didn’t need much longer to eat, anyway.

Jaemin stood as Renjun’s mother started gathering up plates. “ _Please, ma’am, let us help you with the dishes._ ”

“ _I couldn’t make a guest do that._ ” She tried to wave him off.

Jeno stood as well. “ _We would really appreciate getting to help._ ” He even pulled out the puppy eyes, but Renjun’s mother was a strong woman.

She shook her head. “ _Thank you for the thought, but this isn’t something I’m going to ask you to do._ ”

She chased them all out. Renjun spotted one of his relatives’ cars pulling into the driveway. He needed a break from all this. He grabbed Jaemin and Jeno by the hands. “You’ve never been here before, right?” he said quietly. “Let me show you around.”

Jeno practically wriggled. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s not that big a place, but it would be nice to get out of here for a while.”

Donghyuck slipped into the hallway with Yangyang behind him. “Is it that bad, that you need to escape?”

“Don’t judge me.” He dragged them off to the sound of his friends’ laughter.

***

His fake boyfriends were a pair of silly, excitable children, Renjun decided as he watched both of them stare at everything around them. Jilin wasn’t the biggest city, but it was beautiful, especially decked out for the winter holiday. He had almost forgotten to appreciate that as he grew more and more stressed about coming home. Maybe this trip had other upsides.

Jeno seemed to be the most excited, dragging Renjun everywhere by the hand, which caused him to drag Jaemin behind him. He only managed it because Jaemin was just as willing to move; Jaemin was stronger than both of them. Renjun trailed behind, explaining what the various signs and sights in the shops meant. Jeno was particularly enamored with a trinket shop that had figurines like the one he had given Renjun. “Look at these, they’re so cute.”

“If you like them so much, why did you give me one? You should have kept it for yourself.”

Jeno shook his head. “No, it was for you. I wanted you to have it.”

“Why?”

“Because.” Jeno stuck his tongue out before turning back to coo at the cat again.

Renjun rolled his eyes before he felt something on his hand. Jaemin stood watching, absentmindedly stroking the back of Renjun’s hand. The affection in his gaze felt overwhelming, yet so very safe. What were they even doing? No one was watching them; The family would all be at various functions or just at home themselves, unless they were at his house. They could have just wandered around on like they did at home. But he didn’t want to let go.

Well. Someone could be watching them, and they wouldn’t know. Best not to let their guards down. Renjun let Jeno and Jaemin pull him into the streets of Jilin without questioning any more.

***

He managed to ditch Jaemin and Jeno downstairs as they tried to further impress his parents. He wasn’t sure why they were so intent on that, since this farce would be over as soon as the holidays were, but they seemed to enjoy it. Donghyuck and Yangyang were upstairs, so he climbed the stairs to Donghyuck’s room and opened the door. Sadly and happily, he didn’t walk in on anything he could use to tease Donghyuck with.

Donghyuck glared at him from where he was cuddled up in Yangyang’s lap on the bed. “What do you want? My time is very precious here.” His hair was mussed, as was Yangyang’s. Renjun had good timing.

“I have a problem.” He shut the door behind him and sat at the end of the bed, away from the lovebirds. “It’s about this whole thing.”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Are you finally admitting you have feelings?”

“I—what? No.” He crossed his arms. “Something weird just happened while we were out.”

He sighed and sat up, though he didn’t leave Yangyang’s lap. “What happened?” Yangyang hooked his chin over Donghyuck’s shoulder.

Renjun told them about the outing. They cracked up. Donghyuck actually got tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. 

He growled at them both. “This isn’t funny.”

“It’s so funny,” Yangyang told him. “How deep in denial are you?”

“I’m not in denial,” Renjun insisted.

“Does that answer your question, babe?” Donyhuck wiped his eyes. “Listen. It is funny, because I told you this would happen and you didn’t listen to me. Actually, I didn’t even need to tell you this would happen, I just told you to face your feelings. You didn’t and look where it got you.”

“I don’t have feelings,” he insisted. He couldn’t.

“Look,” Yangyang let go of Donghyuck to gesture. “You don’t have to admit what we all know. But you came in here to talk to us for a reason. Think about it, A-Jun. You know there’s something going on here whether you admit it to us or not. You’ll only hurt yourself if you keep denying it.”

He scowled. Even if they were right, he didn’t have to admit it.

“Now, is that all?” Donghyuck asked. “Can I go back to kissing my boyfriend in private whilst we still have time to do so?”

Renjun flipped him off but left them alone. His boyfriends probably needed rescuing from his parents anyway.

***

Some of their relatives came over again that evening. Yangyang’s parents were absent again, but that was typical. As his grandmother’s oldest children, they would have been expected to attend and even host family events, but according to them—and Yangyang, when asked—they were much too busy for it. Renjun wondered how long it would take for the news to reach them, but he couldn’t really bring himself to care, as long as Yangyang made it out okay

His aunts and uncles started in on them again. They kept away from anything too offensive after his mother’s outburst yesterday, but they didn’t stop asking questions. He’d asked for it, hadn’t he?

“ _I like boys, yes,_ ” Renjun said for what felt like the hundredth time. “ _I like girls, too. I’m bisexual, which means I’m attracted to more than one gender. I happen to have chosen to date two boys. That doesn’t invalidate any other part of me._ ” Screaming wouldn’t be useful, but oh, did he want to.

“May I try explaining this?” Jaemin asked. Renjun nodded.

He pulled Renjun into his lap from where he had been filling Jeno’s empty spot waiting for him to return from the bathroom. “ _Renjun and I—and Jeno and I, and Jeno and Renjun—like each other the way you like your wife_ ,” he said to the uncle asking the questions. “ _The things you think about her? We think similar things about each other. There’s nothing different or strange about it except that our interest isn’t always directed at the people you direct your interest to._ ”

That was remarkably eloquent for someone who claimed to lack proficiency. Had he practiced? Renjun settled himself into Jaemin’s lap. It didn’t seem to bother anyone that much, and it was much more comfortable than he had ever thought it would be. It gave him the energy to respond to his family’s questions with patience. His parents had stopped asking after a while, but he wasn’t sure if it was because they understood something or that they thought it was more supportive. 

Jeno wandered back in and sat next to them. He still seemed sleepy. Jeno scooted closer and slid down until he could lay his head in Renjun’s lap. Stroking Jeno’s hair turned out to be just as calming as sitting in Jaemin’s lap. He talked until he couldn’t hold back his yawns and Jeno was almost passed out in his lap, at which point his mother sent them to bed.

They squished Renjun between them in bed this time. Renjun fell asleep without trouble this time.

***

After another few days, things seemed to calm down. The family wasn’t over every night, but the nights they were over, the questions became fewer and fewer. Some of his other cousins had stepped in to help as well, though Yangyang decided to take the brunt of it after Renjun. Jeno and Jaemin had been spending a lot more time with his mother and she seemed to really be warming up to them. It felt surreal, to be sitting on the couch he had sat on countless times over the years and watch Jaemin and Jeno charm his parents. They weren’t even doing anything unusual, just looking over newspapers and books that had collected in the living room.

He couldn’t process it—these two in his house on Christmas Eve, acting like they had always been here. Renjun got up to grab his coat. Some air would do him good.

“ _Where are you going?_ ” His mother stuck her head into the hallway.

“ _I’m just going for a walk_.” He pulled on his shoes and opened the door. “ _I won’t be long._ ”

Given that it was Christmas Eve, he should have expected the cold that enveloped him as soon as he stepped through the front door. His coat protected him, but he missed the human warmth of before.

He wandered the streets he had shown Jeno and Jaemin. Why did things feel so different this time? He had walked this way a thousand times before, with people he had actually had crushes on, even. He paused in front of the trinket shop. The luck cat waved at him. Maybe he should give Jeno one in return?

He turned the corner and almost ran face first into Dejun. He caught Renjun and kept him upright. “ _Hey! I haven’t seen you in a while_.”

“ _Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t go visit you._ ” Renjun wrapped his arms around his middle. It had been too long since they had talked. “ _Things have been kind of busy at home this year_.”

“ _I heard._ ” Dejun cocked his head. “ _You brought your boyfriends home?_ ” 

Renjun nodded.

“ _You have two?_ ” Dejun leaned against the wall. He didn’t seem upset, more interested.

“ _Yes, Jeno and Jaemin._ ”

Dejun nodded slowly. “ _Like, they’re both dating you, or you’re all dating each other?_ ”

“ _We’re all three dating each other. I would have told you before, but it’s relatively recent. We were friends first._ ” Renjun tried to subtly rub at the ache springing up in his chest. What was that about? “ _My family never stops asking me when I’m going to bring a girl home, so now that I have two someones I can bring, we thought it would be nice to introduce them and clear the air with my family._ ”

Why wasn’t he just telling Dejun the truth? Renjun tried to breathe normally. Dejun already knew he was bi, he would have understood the real story. After an eternity, Dejun grinned. “ _That’s so cool._ ”

“ _Really?_ ” Breath came easier again. Renjun stuck his hands in his pockets.

Dejun nodded seriously. “ _Yes. I know what the older generation can be like about two boys liking each other, let alone three. I think you’re really brave_.”

Renjun blamed Jaemin for the hug he gave Dejun. Dejun seemed surprised, but hugged him back. “ _Thank you_.”

After they parted, Renjun’s feet took him to the park. It was pretty enough in the dusting of snow, but something had told him not to take Jeno and Jaemin by here yet.

Why had he been so hung up on Dejun’s response? It wasn’t like it actually mattered what anyone thought of their relationship; They didn’t really have a relationship. Not like that. Renjun rubbed at his chest again as he wandered past a covered fountain.

That wasn’t the only issue, though. Renjun moved a leaf filled with snow out of the way with his foot. Like he’d told Jaemin and Jeno, he was coming out. He was coming out to his family, to his friends. It did matter what they thought of the relationship, even if it wasn’t real, because it was also what they thought of him. That didn’t explain the chest thing, but he could deal with that later. Renjun finished his circuit and headed home.

***

No one was in the living room when he got home. His father had his office light on. Donghyuck and Yangyang’s shoes were gone, so they had probably snuck out for a date. There were noises in the kitchen. Renjun toed off his shoes to sneak over.

Jeno and Jaemin scurried around the kitchen, carrying out his mother’s requests as she cooked what would be their massive Christmas Eve dinner. The ache was back. He leaned on the doorway.

Jaemin smiled down at his mother as he handed off the bowl. Jeno stirred something in a pot on the stove, one of Renjun's mother's aprons tied around his waist. Renjun let his head fall against the doorframe, quietly enough that they wouldn’t look over. Why did that cause actual pain in his chest? They had to have convinced her to let them in not long after he left. His mother reached past Jeno to another pot. She hugged him briefly as she moved away. Jeno grinned shyly. Renjun slipped away before they could notice and pull him in. It was much too dangerous already.

He ran into Donghyuck and Yangyang in the hallway. He didn’t know what was on his face, but Donghyuck saw something that made him ask Yangyang to go help Renjun’s mother. Donghyuck dragged him upstairs, into his room. He shoved Renjun on the bed.

“Oh, are we fighting on beds now?” 

“Not the time.” Donghyuck shut the door. “What’s wrong?”

“What?”

“Your face, when you came out of the kitchen. You looked like someone kicked you in the gut. What happened?”

“Oh.” Renjun swallowed. He didn’t know if he had words for this. “I—I was out for a walk and I ran into Dejun, do you remember I’ve mentioned him?”

Donghyuck nodded. “You grew up together, of course I remember.”

Renjun shrugged. “Well, I hadn’t told him about this plan, and I don’t even know why I did it, but when he asked about me bringing my boyfriends, I told him the story we’ve been telling the family.” He picked at the bedspread. “I don’t know why it felt so real when I told him. He was happy for me.” Donghyuck paced past Renjun. “It made my chest hurt. I went on my normal walk and it hadn’t gone away, so I came home and they were helping my mom cook.” He shook his head. “She never lets people do that.”

“And?”

“And I like them.” He hated how small his voice sounded saying. “I really like both of them.”

Donghyuck snorted. “Okay, I shouldn’t be laughing, but.” He snorted again. “I told you so.”

“You did not.”

“I literally told you you had feelings for them.” Donghyuck waved his arms around. “So yes, I told you so. I get to say it now.”

Renjun flipped him off. “Stop laughing at me.”

“Right. Serious moment.” He sobered. “But why are you upset? Isn’t it nice? You like two cute boys whom your parents approve of. What’s the problem here?”

“What’s the problem?” He jumped up. “Why do you think I never wanted to think about it? Do you really think they like me back? Really? It’s hard enough to get even one person to like you back, let alone two. And those two?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Donghyuck stopped in front of him. “What’s so special about them?”

Renjun just shrugged. “I know they’re attached at the hip sometimes, but I feel like if they were really into each other like that it would be even more obvious.”

Donghyuck shook his head. “I stand by my assessment that you three are in love and you should just say it.”

Rejun ignored that. Donghyuck had been saying that for too long for him to believe it now. His chest ached again. On the upside, he was supposed to be selling ‘boy in love with his boyfriends’ and feelings would certainly help that. No matter the cost later. He stood.

“Thanks, Hyuck. I’ll just deal with it later.” He shrugged. “It’s not like there’s much that will change now. I’m still pretending to date them. And we have bigger concerns at hand. I’ll get through this and then worry about it.”

Donghyuck called after him,“You’re an idiot,” but didn’t stop him from leaving. The family was already starting to pile in for dinner, and his mother set him to work as soon as she saw him. He didn’t have space to even think until they were eating and he was wedged between Jaemin and Jeno again. Touching them, being close to them, felt so different now; wonderful and painful all in one. He leaned into the wonder and ignored the pain. 

It wasn’t until after dinner, when Jeno had decided he wanted to join the making Renjun sit on people train and pulled Renjun into his lap before they even finished sitting down, that his uncle decided to start in on them again. He seemed to have little more to say about them all being boys and had finally decided to focus on there being three of them.

“ _But how is that fair to any of you?_ ” he demanded. “ _Wouldn’t you naturally focus on one person more than the other?_ ”

Jaemin grimaced. Jeno looked confused. Renjun held in his sigh. It was so much more frustrating like this.

“ _You want to know if we treat each other unequally?_ ” Renjun had an idea. “ _Okay. Fine._ ” He twisted to face Jeno, coming in close enough to make his intent obvious. Jeno’s eyes widened a little, but nodded subtly. Renjun kissed him. It started simply, just a brush of lips, but Jeno tasted sweeter than he had expected. Jeno also hung onto his shirt and gave him free rein , so Renjun pressed in a little harder. When he pulled back, Jeno actually looked a little dazed. He had done that. Renjun suppressed a smile. He flipped around so he could slide into Jaemin’s lap.

He didn’t know how to read Jaemin’s face. A little pink dusted his cheeks, but his eyes were bright as he pulled Renjun closer. Kissing Jaemin didn’t feel like kissing Jeno, partly because Jaemin slid a hand into Renjun’s hair and pulled him in for more. He tasted more like dinner. As much as he wanted more, there was a limit to what he was willing to do in front of his family, so he kept the kiss short. When he pulled back, Jaemin looked a little stunned, too. Odd. 

He turned back to his uncle, stretched across both their laps. “ _Did you see a significant difference there_?”

His uncle frowned deeply. “ _I suppose not, though I don’t know why you had to use that particular example_.”

Renjun ignored the last bit because he had enjoyed his example, thanks. “ _So, do you think we can’t possibly be treating each other equally?_ ”

He didn’t appear to have an answer to that.

“ _Just because we don’t conform to what you or the rest of society says is normal, doesn’t mean we’re wrong. And I get it, this is new and confusing and you have questions. Fine. But asking us over and over again to explain, not just ‘how do you manage some things’ but ‘justify your existence?’ That’s harmful. You’re asking me to justify my existence to you, whether you phrase it that way or not. Do you see why that might be more than a little hurtful?_ ”

His uncle looked like he had been slapped in the face. “ _I hadn’t thought about it like that_.”

“ _I know_.” Renjun swallowed. “ _I’m not saying you can’t ask questions. But “why?” over and over again just says to me that you want me to justify it, when you don’t do that to people who are straight._ ”

It wasn’t just his uncle who apologized, but some of his other relatives, too.

Renjun relaxed against his boys.

Yangyang looked conflicted when Renjun glanced over. He whispered something to Donghyuck, who nodded. He took Donghyuck’s hand. Donghyuck looked mildly terrified, but he didn’t stop Yangyang when the other boy spoke up.

“ _Since we’re putting things out in the open,_ ” Yangyang raised his voice slightly to catch everyone’s attention. “ _I have something to add._ ”

“What’s he doing?” Jeno whispered.

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t they have good reasons not to …” Jaemin started.

“Yes. I don’t know what’s going on, they didn’t consult me,” Renjun hissed. “Shhh.”

His mother waved at them. “ _What is it, Yangyang?_ ”

Yangyang took a deep breath. Whatever emotions he might have, he kept them deep under his skin as he said, “ _Donghyuck and I are dating._ ”

Everyone stared at him. Renjun held his breath. He gripped his boyfriends’ hands as tightly as they would let him.

“ _We started dating after we met last year,_ ” Donghyuck added, voice a little shakier than Yangyang’s. He laced their fingers together. “ _We weren’t going to say anything, but after what Renjun’s been doing we thought it would be good to get it out of the way._ ”

“That’s bull,” Renjun muttered to Jaemin and Jeno. “I bet they didn’t even talk about it.”

“I thought you said to hush?” Jaemin shot back.

Renjun rolled his eyes.

No one seemed to know what to say, which didn’t surprise him. They’d all been asked to process a lot recently. Finally, his mother said, “ _Well, I’m very glad you told us. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, with how close you seemed to get last year._ ”

Yangyang sagged back into the couch, sighing. Donghyuck looked like he was trying to hold something back. Renjun bit his lip. Donghyuck’s own parents hadn’t taken it nearly as well as this. When his mother opened her arms, Donghyuck couldn’t take it anymore. He untangled himself from Yangyang and practically threw himself across the room to hug her. 

When Renjun released his grip, he found indentations on both Jeno and Jaemin's hands. "Why didn't you say something?" He rubbed at the marks. 

Jeno shrugged. "You needed it."

"Besides," Jaemin set his head on Renjun's shoulder, "I was worried, too. Gave me something to focus on.”

Renjun stroked Jaemin’s hair and took Jeno’s hand, more gently this time, while they waited for Donghyuck to return.

***

Renjun played with his phone as Jeno and Jaemin talked to their families. Yet again, he had pulled them into his mess. This time hasn't even been an emergency, so he had pulled them even further for spite. 

Jaemin knocked him gently on the head. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it,” he whispered, holding his phone against his neck. "Everything is fine.”

“It’s not,” Renjun shot back. “I’m pulling you away from your family at Christmas. I don’t care if you don’t celebrate it personally. I don't even have an emergency this time.”

Jaemin rolled his eyes. “You think it matters whether it's a life or death emergency? I can live being away from my family for one Christmas.” Someone’s voice came through the phone. He turned away to answer them.

“Yeah, show me when I come back, okay? Great. I love you, too. Bye.”

He hung up and came to sit down next to Renjun. “Were you arguing about the trip again?”

Renjun shrugged. “I still feel bad that I’m pulling you away at Christmas when it's not even urgent. At least when you had to hide me it was for a legitimate reason.”

“This is a legitimate reason." Jeno flailed. Jaemin glanced over and Renjun waved him off. "Coming out to your family is important, even if it's just because you got frustrated. It’s fine.” Jeno leaned on him until they almost fell over. “You’ve met my parents. I love them, but I see them all the time. Like, more than I might want to sometimes. I can live with spending one break here instead of at home. And they were happy for me, too.”

Jaemin dropped on Renjun's other side. “Are we really still on this?”

“Yes.” Renjun elbowed him. “I feel bad that I dragged you away from your families just to deceive mine."

"Just?"

Jeno leaned across Renjun's lap. "He thinks he's getting us into trouble like last year because of this."

Jaemin frowned. "We didn't get in trouble last year. We helped you because we wanted to, because you needed it. And it turned out fine. We're helping you now because we want to, and it's fine."

Maybe Donghyuck was right. Maybe that was when he'd fallen, when he'd gone running to them for help in the scariest time of his life and they had saved him without batting an eye. They both watched him now the way they had then, waiting for what he needed without asking for anything. He shook his head. Now wasn't the time. "I still asked you to do something that inconvenienced you. I’m allowed to feel bad about that.”

Jaemin made a discontented noise. “Then I’m allowed to do something about it.”

“Huh?”

Jaemin turned Renjun toward him by his chin. Renjun froze at the kiss. Unlike the last time, Jaemin seemed to be trying to prove a point; he brushed his mouth over Renjun’s until Renjun couldn’t remember what they had been talking about.

Jaemin nudged him until he turned toward Jeno, who seemed happy to lean in and take over. Renjun practically melted as Jeno slid a hand around the back of his neck to pull him closer.

“Stop worrying so much.” Jaemin pet Renjun’s hair when Jeno let him go. “We’re here because we want to be, just like last time. That’s what matters, not how easy or hard it is.” He pet Jeno’s hair, too, when the other pouted. “Besides, we knew what we were getting into. Right, Jen?”

Jeno nodded. “You were very clear from the beginning. And we thought it through before we agreed.”

“What, in thirty seconds?” Renjun scoffed.

“Yeah, actually,” Jaemin returned. “I knew what it would mean to you and I decided to do it.”

“Me, too.” Jeno picked at the sheets. “I know I took longer to agree, and I was worried about how well it would work, but that was mostly because I wanted to think it through first. I understood what you wanted and when I agreed it was because I knew what I could handle. Please, can you trust that we know what we’re doing?”

He had a point. Renjun sighed. “If you’re that insistent.” It certainly took some weight off his shoulders, thinking of it that way. 

“We are.” Jaemin glanced over Renjun’s head. Renjun couldn’t see what happened, but there must have been some kind of communication or else he was delusional. They leaned in as one to kiss his cheeks. “And don’t we have some festivities to get to?”

What the hell had that been about? Renjun shook himself out of a daze as Jaemin and Jeno headed for the door. By the time he caught up with them, they were halfway down the stairs and much too close to his family to ask. He settled for pinching both of them in the side before latching onto Jeno from behind.

The family seemed to have relaxed, finally. Renjun moved through the festivities with a boy on each arm and no one questioned him. Jeno seemed particularly happy with the miniature lucky cat Renjun had picked up on his way back from the earth-shattering walk. Jaemin took the book Renjun had found on various animal anatomies and didn’t emerge for close to an hour. Renjun blushed when they presented their gift, a charm bracelet with various constellations dangling from the links. No one questioned it.

If anything, they seemed more interested in watching Yangyang and Donghyuck. Blind-siding the family with that revelation seemed to have shifted most of the attention off of Renjun. They both did a good job of hiding their nerves. Donghyuck giggled more, the raucous laugh he used to cover up discomfort, while Yangyang just held onto him. Renjun wasn’t sure how they had planned to hide much more, anyway, since their gifts to each other were couple-themed. 

After dinner, they sat down to play games. Since Jeno wasn’t as communicative in Chinese, and Jaemin insisted he wasn’t very good, Renjun sat out to explain the games to them. It was interesting, both to watch his family play from an outside perspective and to see how Jaemin and Jeno reacted. Jaemin picked a side—Donghyuck and Yangyang, mostly, though sometimes Renjun’s parents—and got invested in how they did. Jeno just watched for the interesting bits so he could clap or gasp as appropriate. 

“ _Renjun, could you bring us more tea?_ ” his mother asked after a round. Renjun got the warming kettle from the kitchen to pour out the drinks. 

His uncle stopped him with a hand on his wrist as Renjun made to stand after pouring his tea. “ _You look good together,_ ” he whispered gruffly. “ _Even if it’s confusing as hell_.”

Renjun gripped the kettle more carefully so he wouldn’t drop it. “ _Thank you, uncle._ ”

“ _Just—don’t get yourself into trouble, alright?_ ”

He already was in trouble, of at least one kind. Renjun nodded. “ _I won’t. Thank you._ ”

His uncle nodded and sat up. Renjun left the kettle in the kitchen. His boyfriends eyed him when he came back. “Is everything okay?” Jeno asked.

He nodded, settling back against them. “Everything is just fine.”

He couldn’t bring himself to worry about the future that night.

***

Not all of Renjun’s family members celebrated New Year the way his parents did. His mother said that Christmas was for the whole family, and New Year was just for them. It was a relief to slip down the stairs on December 31st with Jaemin and Jeno and not have to worry about performing for his whole family. 

They ate breakfast together, before Donghyuck and Yangyang decided to take advantage of their out state and cuddle in the living room. Renjun tried to leave, but Jaemin sat on him.

“Hey.”

“Cuddle me,” he pouted. “I don’t care what the lovebirds are doing.”

Jeno laughed, watching Renjun try to get out from under Jaemin. “You know he’s not going to budge, right?”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t try.” Renjun wiggled, but Jaemin had both size and strength on his side.

Jeno took a seat next to them on the couch, then bowled them both over in a hug. Renjun groaned.

“What was that for?”

“I thought it would be fun. Besides, Nana wanted cuddles.”

He looked so much like an excited puppy, grinning down at them, that Renjun couldn’t help but lean up to kiss him. It was the smallest peck, before he remembered himself, but Jeno blushed anyway.

Jaemin pouted harder. “Don’t I get one?”

It should have irritated him. Renjun flushed instead and kissed Jaemin, too. When he finally got to sit up, Yangyang was gagging dramatically while his mother looked on from the doorway.

“ _Aren’t you cute?_ ” she said.

They all flushed and moved on. They took most of the day to relax, catch up on work, chat with friends. Renjun texted Mark that they had survived (he received a series of :OOOO for a solid five minutes after) before trying to catch up with Dejun. Dejun proved elusive, so he sent an early birthday wish to Kun before Jeno and Jaemin pulled him away for dinner.

They bundled outside after all the food was eaten and put away to wait for the fireworks. His parents stood a little to the side, giving an illusion of privacy. Donghyuck wiggled his way between Renjun and Jaemin for a while to let Yangyang and Jeno chat, though he claimed it was for body heat only. Eventually Yangyang dragged him off to look at something.

“It’s almost midnight.” Jeno looked up from his watch. “Are we keeping with the New Year’s tradition?”

“Who would count as the New Year’s kiss, then?” Jaemin stamped his feet for warmth. “If two of us kiss at midnight, I mean. Wouldn’t we have to pick two?”

“We all could.” Renjun stuck his hands in his pockets. If he only got one chance like this, he’d better take advantage of it. “No one ever said it had to be only one kiss.”

Jaemin stared at him. Renjun played with his scarf. He didn’t know what to make of Jaemin, even more than usual. Jeno started the countdown. Jeno was straightforward; Renjun had been drawn to him because he was easily read. Jaemin had always been harder. He seemed content to watch the world rather than participate sometimes, or even discuss it. They made a fascinating enigma, put together. 

Before Renjun could figure it out, Jeno’s mouth was on his. He kissed back, holding onto Jeno for the brief moment he was allowed to. It left him breathless when Jeno pulled away, but he wasn’t going to back down. He pulled Jaemin toward him. Jeno’s gaze burned into them as Renjun tiptoed. Jaemin seemed overall to be a more controlled kisser than Jeno. Both were intense. Renjun’s head tipped back.

Yangyang had Donghyuck up against the wall of the house when Jaemin released Renjun. Jaemin turned to Jeno. Renjun put a hand over his mouth. As far as he knew, they hadn’t kissed while this farce had been going on. Jaemin cupped Jeno’s jaw and leaned in. Jeno had his eyes closed, but he was blushing furiously. The kiss started very light; Jaemin seemed content just to give Jeno a peck and move back, but Jeno grabbed his coat. Renjun didn’t see exactly what happened, but he had to pull Jaemin back before they took anything too far in front of his parents.

Jaemin and Jeno stared at each other. Donghyuck and Yangyang were still kissing; they wouldn’t have noticed anything. His parents had kissed briefly when the fireworks started going off, and seemed to be whispering to each other still. What was that? 

Jaemin shook himself. “That was fun.”

“Hmm.” Renjun glanced at his parents. “I think my parents are occupied for now, but I’m worried about those two.” He waved back toward the house. “Very tempted to throw something at them.”

“Well.” Jeno looked at the ground. “It did snow today.”

Jaemin grinned. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

Renjun was already crouching to pack together a snowball. They were close enough to the house that he didn’t need to move far. He threw it; the snowball smacked Yanyang right in the back of the head. He jerked back, squawking, only for another snowball to whack Donghyuck’s shoulder. Jaemin popped up next to him. “I like this idea. Should we run?”

“Yes.” They grabbed Jeno and ran past his parents as the angered boyfriends chased them. The ensuing fight left Renjun too tired to think when he dropped into bed.

***

It took until the day before they left for Renjun to remember, while Jaemin and Jeno traded language help with Yangyang. Things would go right back to normal as soon as they got off the plane. No more seeing his boyfriends with his cousin. No more boyfriends. Renjun sat bolt upright.

“Will you come somewhere with me?”

They looked around. “Now?”

He nodded. “Or as soon as you’re done. Sorry, I know I’m interrupting.”

Jeno turned back to Yangyang. He rolled his eyes, but waved them off. “Go on, it’s probably important.”

Jaemin got up to take his hand. “Let’s go.” 

Jeno caught up as they headed for the door. Renjun took them to the park he had wandered through after running into Dejun. He led them through it at a more than easy pace. The snow from the night before was still pristine. He almost felt bad for trampling it, but it couldn’t be helped. He paused at the edge of the clearing when they arrived.

It wasn’t a large clearing, just an open space where trees hadn’t grown with a large boulder on one side, but it had always been almost preternaturally peaceful. Snow hid the divot in the boulder that he and Yangyang had used as a throne, a ship, a storage space. Renjun waved. “This is what I wanted to show you.”

“Ohhh.” Jaemin seemed fascinated by the boulder—though the interesting feature was hidden—and approached.

“This is beautiful.” Jeno came up beside Renjun. “How did you find it?”

Renjun shrugged. “Yanyang and I used to play in this park a lot. We were playing tag one day as kids and both got lost and found this place. It was our secret play place for years.” Jaemin was still clambering around. It looked like he was trying to climb the boulder. “I like coming here when I need time away from my family, because only Yanyang and I know about it and he knows not to interrupt me here.”

Jaemin found the divot after accidentally sinking his hand into the snow. He cleared it off. “There’s a whole chunk missing from this!”

“Yeah.” Renjun laughed. “It’s always been like that. We used to make it the special seat, throne captain’s chair, that kind of thing. It’s a pretty good place to sit. It’s probably cold now,” he called when Jaemin tried to climb into it. 

“He’s gonna do it anyway.” Jeno leaned on his shoulder.

“Yep.” They watched Jaemin make it up, then frown and shiver.

“This is cold.”

“I warned you.”

Jaemin pouted over at them. Renjun sighed as Jeno dragged him over to help, but he found he didn’t mind too much. Even if this was all he would get from now on.

***

It took Renjun three hours after their flight home to finally extricate himself from his former fake boyfriends. Jeno and Jaemin rode home with them because “We all live close to campus, it’s fine to just share a cab to your place,” and then did not seem to want to leave. It took him and Donghyuck practically dragging them out of the apartment to get alone time.

Renjun flopped onto the couch. “I’m exhausted.”

“Well, no wonder,” Donghyuck dropped next to him, “With two boys like that. I always wondered how you didn’t need a nap to deal with them all the time and I guess it would be worse now.”

Renjun shoved him. “Shut up. The farce is over. I’ve taught my family their lesson and they took it well; They even accepted you and Yangyang. There’s no more need for it.”

“So you’re just going to ignore all the kissing that happened even though it totally didn’t need to?” Donghyuck nudged him.

“I don’t appreciate the judgemental tone.”

“I don’t appreciate your idiocy.”

Renjun smacked him with a pillow. Donghyuck got another to smack Renjun with. The ensuing fight left them both exhausted and not in the mood for debate. They wound down and went to unpack before making dinner. Through it all, Renjun tried to ignore the sinking in the pit of his stomach. How was he going to do this?

***

The answer to the question of how not to confess his feelings to two boys who didn’t return them seemed to be “ _avoid them and everyone else who can judge you by burying yourself in schoolwork_."Renjun claimed an empty table at the library. He didn’t even need to make up excuses, he’d just selected one too many hard classes together this semester. He unpacked his books. He’d always preferred studying alone; It was just that he spent a much higher percentage of time doing it now. Donghyuck made fun of him for it when they saw each other—but that wasn’t very often.

He dragged himself home at the end of the day bone tired but prepared. There were upsides to avoidance. He unlocked his door.

Jaemin grinned at him from the living room couch while Jeno stuck his head in from the kitchen. “There you are! Were you in the library all this time?”

Renjun nodded slowly. Was he hallucinating? “Where’s Donghyuck? Did he let you in and just leave?”

Jaemin shook his head. He pointed to Donghyuck’s closed door. “I think Yangyang called him?”

Renjun rolled his eyes. “Of course.” He went to drop his bag in his own room. When he came back into the living room, Jeno dragged him over to the couch. They ended up sitting with Renjun squished between the boys. It was everything he’d wanted, yet worse than when he didn’t want to cuddle. This was what he couldn’t have. But he couldn’t bring himself to stand or shove them away. Jaemin carded his fingers through Renjun’s hair. He was so tired. He sagged against Jaemin. Jeno started massaging his shoulders. His last thought before succumbing to sleep was that avoiding his best friends didn’t really work, even if they didn’t realize they were being avoided. Damn.

***

Renjun got the shock of his life when he came home to find to find Yangyang lounging in his living room.

“What the fuck?” He dropped his bag. “What are you doing here? How did you get in here? Does Donghyuck know? Did he hide you from me? I’ll kill him.”

Yangyang jumped up. “No, you won’t.”

“Try me.”

“Please?” he pouted. “He doesn’t know I’m here, promise.”

“Then how the fuck did you get in?”

Yangyang held up a shiny key. “I borrowed his key when you visited last month and got a copy made.”

“Yangyang, what the actual fuck?”

He grinned and shrugged. “I’ve been planning this for a while.”

“What even is this?” Renjun came over to inspect the key. It certainly looked like his house key. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”

“Oh, yeah.” Yangyang pocketed the key. He almost tripped over his suitcase when he stepped back. “I’ve been working on transferring schools for a while now. I don’t like the school back home as much, the programs here are good, and I think my Korean is good enough to get by.” He shoved the suitcase behind the couch, into the corner. “I thought it would be nice to surprise him.”

“Scare the hell out of him, you mean.”

Yangyang smirked. “I mean, that’s a plus.”

Renjun sighed. “That would be cute except for the changing schools entirely part.” Renjun paced. “That’s not the kind of thing you do on a whim, even if you’re not fond of your school. Is this just because of the distance?”

Yangyang crossed his arms over his chest. “No. Here is where I want to be. I’ve thought this through. It isn’t a whim.”

Something wasn’t adding up. Renjun cocked his head. “Is everything okay?”

Yangyang grinned. “When is everything not okay?”

If he didn’t want to talk about it, Renjun wouldn’t push him. He gave Yangyang a quick hug. “Let’s hide you, then. It won’t be a very good surprise when Donghyuck comes home and sees you right out here.”

Yanyang clapped. “Yes, tell me where I can hide.”

Renjun led him over to Donghyuck’s room. He opened the door. Donghyuck was, if nothing else, a clean roommate and that extended to his bedroom. His clothes stayed in their drawers, his bedsheets were tucked in hospital corners, and he never let anything stay on his desk. “Stay right here. I’ll close the door and then we’ll make sure Donghyuck comes this way when he comes in.”

“Why am I hiding right behind the door?” Yangyang asked, though he went willingly enough. “Isn’t there a better hiding place?”

“Yeah, but I want to see this.” Renjun rubbed his hands together. “After the shock you gave me, I think I deserve it.”

Yangyang cackled. “Fair enough.”

Renjun winked before he shut the door. Donghyuck didn’t take long to come home after his last class. He waved at Renjun and went straight into the kitchen. “I am going to snap Donghae’s neck.”

“Did he try to walk over you again?” Renjun got off the couch. Where would be the best vantage point for this? He was more interested in Donghyuck’s face and reactions than he was inYanyang’s. The bookcase would do. He pretended to be choosing a book as Donghyuck wandered back in.

“Yeah, god, I hate him. I’ll break his neck like a little twig,” Donghyuck whined as he wandered back in with an apple and some granola bars. 

“Uh huh.” Renjun grabbed one of Donghyuck’s romance novels and turned around. “Did you already decimate him or is this the full extent of your anger?”

“Maybe I’ll break your neck like a twig,” Donghyuck threatened. It came out much less intimidating than he probably meant it as he was biting into a granola bar at the same time. 

Renjun laughed. “What exactly did he do?”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Hold on, my backpack is killing me.” He hitched his backpack up on his shoulder and opened the door to his room. Donghyuck dropped his backpack. “Oh my god.” He practically screamed it. Perfect. Renjun moved closer.

“No god here,” Yangyang grinned. “Just me.”

“Oh my—” Donghyuck cut himself off by smacking Yangyang on the arm. “What the hell!”

“Is that code for ‘I missed you so much, I’m so glad to see you, how did you get here?’” Yangyang rubbed his arm. “Because I’m not really feeling the love right now.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Donghyuck pulled him in for a kiss. “What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering, Yangyang gave Donghyuck another kiss. It seemed to distract him pretty thoroughly. 

He didn’t need to see any more of that. Renjun slid the book into place on the shelf and escaped to the couch. Eventually, they stopped kissing long enough for Yangyang to explain himself.

Donghyuck pulled back. “Wait a second, how did you get in here?” He turned to Renjun. “Did you have anything to do with this?”

“Oh, I was as surprised as you were,” Renjun raised his hands in mock surrender. “He was just sitting in the living room when I got home. Ask him how he managed it.”

Donghyuck raised his eyebrows at Yangyang. “What did you do?”

Yangyang held up the shiny new key on his keyring. “I didn’t think you’d mind much if your boyfriend and temporary tenant had his own key.”

“Tenant?” They repeated in unison.

“Yangyang.” Renjun grabbed a pillow to throw. “Did you not plan for a place to stay here?”

He shrugged. “I mean, I can go to a hotel. But I’ve seen your apartment before and there seemed to be space? So I thought it might be nice to crash here at least until I figure out where I would like to live.”

“And you didn’t think to ask?” Renjun threw the pillow.

Yangyang turned on the charm. “I’m asking now?”

Renjun gagged, but Donghyuck seemed to think it was cute. He turned to Renjun with pleading eyes. “You’re not going to leave your cousin out in the cold are you?”

“Who do you think I am?” Renjun retorted. “Of course not. But would have been nice to have known about this beforehand, is all.” He pointed at the two of them. “And I’ve lived with you before, you’re Donghyuck’s responsibility.”

“He’s your cousin!”

“He’s your boyfriend,” Renjun retorted. “Your boyfriend who came here to be with you and is crashing in our apartment. Who do you think has more responsibility here?”

“Am I not responsible for myself?” Yangyang asked.

“Not to our landlord, you’re not,” Renjun told him. “They won’t mind you crashing here, but unless you’re on the lease, you’re not their problem, which means you’re ours. And I’m saying you’re his.”

Donghyuck waved a hand. “Fine, but that’s not the point.”

“What is the point?”

“The point is,” Donghyuck grabbed Yangyang’s wrist, “That I have my boyfriend here in person for the first time in months and he’s here to stay, so we will be excusing ourselves now.”

“Could you at least wait to have sex until I’m out of the building?” Renjun ducked the pillow that Donghyuck sent flying back for his head.

Renjun tried to settle into his homework after Donghyuck closed the door, the way he should have been before Yangyang scared the crap out of him. But he couldn’t quite shake off a small ache. It didn’t take a genius to guess what was causing it, no matter how good he was at avoiding his own feelings. He pulled his notebook out of his bag. His projects weren’t going to wait for boys.

The doorbell rang. Renjun set aside his book and got up to answer it. Jaemin grinned at him in the open doorway. “Hey there.”

“Hi. What?”

Jaemin pointed. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.” Renjun backed up. “But what are you doing here?” he barely caught a whiff of cinnamon as Jaemin passed him and took off his shoes. Had he been baking?

“Yangyang called Jeno because he got lost on his way over here,” Jaemin explained. “We were at home. He was out grocery shopping, but sent me over here first because we really wanted to see Donghyuck’s reaction.”

“Well, you’re too late for the reaction.” Renjun shut the door. “Donghyuck shut himself and Yangyang in his room a while ago. I don’t think they’re having sex yet, but give it time.”

“I heard that!” Donghyuck yelled faintly through the door. “We’re not doing anything.”

“Sure,” He and Jaemin said together. Jaemin giggled, which started Renjun laughing as they walked back toward the living room.

“Anyway.” Renjun opened the living room door. “Why was Yangyang calling Jeno? Did he just need someone’s help or are they friends now?”

“No, they’re quite close now.” Jaemin sat on the end of the couch away from Renjun’s stuff. “I think finding out they’re both history nerds started it, but they’ve been talking ever since we came home.”

And neither had bothered to tell him. Renjun swallowed past the slight bitterness of that pill and sat in his old spot. “So, Jeno was the first he thought to call for help? And you just happened to be there.”

“Yep.” Jaemin stretched. That was a terrible habit of his; his shirts always rode up a little.

“Were you baking earlier?” Renjun moved his textbooks and notebooks onto the floor.

“I was! I tried making cinnamon rolls.” Jaemin cocked his head. “How did you know?”

“You passed close enough for me to smell it earlier.” Renjun held out his hands. “Where’s my cinnamon roll?”

It would have been a perfect opportunity for Jaemin to joke about being the cinnamon roll or something equally ridiculous, but Jaemin just made a sad face. “Oh, I’m sorry. I wanted to let them cool off and then I forgot to bring any when Jeno called me. I can bring you some next time?”

Renjun shook his head. “It’s fine. We’ll see what happens, I guess.” He pulled his knees toward his chest. “How was your test?”

He let Jaemin complain about anatomy and how he didn’t need to know human anatomy, he was supposed to work on animals, and let it cover the distance. Jeno came barreling in only a few minutes later with a box in hand. “Did I miss it? Is he already home?”

“Yeah, sorry.” They sat him between them on the couch. Jeno set the box in his lap. “What’s that?”

“Oh.” Jeno lifted the lid. Homemade cinnamon rolls were packed in even rows. “Jaemin forgot these at home, so I packed them up after I put away the groceries and brought them over.”

Renjun bit the inside of his cheek. It shouldn’t have felt important, it was only something Jaemin had forgotten, but it almost felt like Jeno had erased everything after Renjun asked for a roll. He raised an eyebrow at Jaemin. "Can I have one now?"

Jaemin waved grandly. "Have as many as you please."

Renjun took one. For his first time trying the recipe, they were pretty good. “Anyway, yes, Yangyang is in Donghyuck’s room. I could have delayed until you were here but I didn’t know you would be here.” He glared at both of them until they apologized. “So now we’re waiting to see if they emerge or if sex rears its ugly head.”

Jeno giggled as he took the rolls to the kitchen. "I sure hope not."

Jaemin stretched out on the couch as soon as there was space, head ending up very close to Renjun’s leg. He couldn’t bring himself to reach out. Jaemin hooked his legs over the couch arm. “I want to do something, though.”

“What something?”

“Something to mess with those two.” He waved at the closed door. “Since we missed actually getting to see the reunion.”

Renjun let his head fall back to the couch as he thought. What would annoy Donghyuck enough to draw him out of his room? “Let’s put on a stupid movie.”

“Oh?” Jaemin twisted to get a better look at him. “Like what?”

“What movie does Donghyuck hate the most?”

They had to think about it, and ask Jeno when he came back. Jaemin cackled when Jeno reminded them that _Twilight_ was available on Netflix, they set it up—loudly—and then stood right in front of Donghyuck’s door to discuss just what they were planning to do, even louder.

“No, you don’t get the full experience unless you watch at full volume,” Jaemin insisted, leaning against the door. He almost fell over when Donghyuck yanked it open, glowering.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

Renjun pulled an innocent face. “Watching _Twilight_ , why? Is that a problem for you?”

Yangyang started laughing behind Donghyuck. “This is on purpose, right?”

Renjun stepped away just to make sure he wouldn’t be attacked. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Before Donghyuck could do anything, Jeno stepped in to hug Yangyang. “How did it go?”

“Really well, actually.” Yangyang gestured grandly. “You’re looking at the newest tenant of 315 New Crescent.”

“It’s 318, dumbass.” Renjun smacked his arm while the others laughed. “Learn the address if you’re going to live here.”

“Okay, so I still have some work to do,” Yanyang admitted.

Donghyuck cuddled closer to Yangyang. “Where’s all your stuff, anyway?”

Yangyang pointed to the suitcase he had left in the corner behind their couch. “That’s all of my important stuff. Renjun’s parents are going to ship me a few of the things I couldn’t or didn’t want to take on the flight with me. I don’t have that much anyway.” Renjun stuck his hands in his pockets. That was the missing piece; Yangyang hadn’t mentioned his parents once since arriving here.

“Well.” Donghyuck brought his hands together. “We need a party.”

“Why?”

“To welcome Yangyang, duh,” Donghyuck glared. “We’ve done one for every other friend who got into school, we should do one now. Especially since he’s so closely connected.”

“He has a point,” Jaemin went back toward the couch. “And a party would be fun. Good way to introduce him around to our other friends, too.” 

“Okay. Are you talking about here?”

Donghyuck shook his head. “I think my cousin would let us use his place if I ask nicely enough. And if his friends are around.”

That was true, Taeil usually listened to Donghyuck. Renjun let himself be manhandled into a new position on the couch and contributed a few ideas to the party planning. It was warmer between Jeno and Jaemin than he had been in weeks alone.

***

Taeil had a nice, large apartment he shared with several of his friends. Renjun hadn’t spent too much time around Johnny, Taeyong, or Yuta, but they smiled at him and helped set up the party, and seemed to take to Yangyang immediately. Their friend Jaehyun was there to help, too. How big of a party had Donghyuck decided to have?

Kun showed up early with Kunhang and Ten in tow because Renjun had told him Yangyang needed more friends who spoke Mandarin. They chattered away on the couch while Donghyuck hung the last of the decorations. Mark had been put on door duty while Renjun took care of setting up the drinks. He wandered toward the door when the bell rang.

Mark ushered Jungwoo and Sicheng into the apartment. Renjun waved at them as they passed by. Sicheng only nodded, but Jungwoo waved back, smiling brightly before he went to pull Ten into his lap. Sicheng sat next to them. Yuta migrated over despite not knowing the language. Renjun had never known too much about Sicheng, but he seemed to go well with Yuta. 

A few other people Renjun didn’t know well arrived. Renjun stuck to the sidelines, since his cousin seemed to enjoy all the attention. Mark flitted in and out to answer the door, but stuck by Renjun a lot of the time. Renjun was toying with his first real drink when Mark almost choked at the door. Renjun peered out from the kitchen.

Mark stood gripping the doorknob, staring up at Yukhei. Did they know each other? Renjun would have guessed no, based on Yukhei’s equal staring. He headed for the door. “Hey, Yukhei. Thank you for coming.”

“Oh, hi.” Yukhei jerked toward him. “Is your cousin settling in well?”

Renjun nodded. “He seems pretty popular. Have you met Mark?”

Yukhei shook his head. Mark still hadn’t moved. “I haven’t. Are you Mark?” He turned back to Mark with considerable effort.

Mark nodded slowly. What was wrong with him? Yes, Yukhei was tall and good-looking, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Renjun nudged him.

“Yes, this is my friend Mark. We’re in the same major at school, so you probably wouldn’t have crossed paths. Yukhei’s a Lit major.” He pointed.

“Really?” Mark finally started moving. He backed away from the door. “I’m so sorry, please come in. Yes, I’m in Astronomy with Renjun. Do you like literature?”

Yukhei lit up like he always did when someone showed genuine interest in his major. They moved away from the door without bothering to close it. Renjun reached for the doorknob.

“Wait, not yet.” Jeno slid into the doorway. “We’re here. We’re not too late, are we?”

“Huh?” Renjun gripped his glass so it wouldn’t fall out of his hand. Jeno wore very tight jeans and a dark shirt that seemed to be half-falling off of him. “No, it hasn’t been that long and Yangyang seems to be doing well. Where’s Jaemin?”

“Right here.” Jaemin peered around the doorframe. “Jeno’s just taking up all the space.”

Jeno grumbled, but moved so Jaemin could come into the doorway. He, too, wore jeans and a shirt that looked painted on him. How was that fair?

“Are you going to let us in?”

Renjun backed up the hallway away from the door. He refused to act like Mark. “Sure. Drinks are right outside the kitchen. Everyone is in the living room. Have fun.” He escaped before they could grab him. It would be torture to sit through platonic cuddles with them looking like that and have to keep his mouth shut.

Renjun managed to avoid being stuck too close to anyone. By the time he downed his third drink of the night, Jeno and Jaemin were laughing at Mark. They didn’t seem that different with each other. Maybe it was just him? He had gotten much more used to them touching him during the whole endeavor. Maybe they just thought that gave them a free pass to cuddle him all the time, which it kind of did because he wasn’t about to turn down any time either of them wanted to spend around him, or spend touching him. He curled up in a corner near one of Taeil’s friends. Tonight wasn’t about him, so he didn’t intend to ruin it.

***

Renjun woke up and wished he hadn’t. His head pounded and he felt queasy. But at least he wasn’t already on the way to the toilet. He wore pajamas he didn’t remember putting on. His phone was plugged in on his desk next to a glass of water and ibuprofen. How had he gotten home?

He dragged himself out of bed and into the living room with the water and pills. Donghyuck and Yangyang, both looking far too fresh for the alcohol he did remember both of them consuming, looked over from where they were cuddled on the couch. Donghyuck laughed. “How we feeling?”

“Like death.” He trudged into the kitchen for water. “Why are you so perky? Didn’t you drink at least as much as I did?”

Donghyuck sniffed. “I’m just good like that.”

Renjun glared at him.

“He took painkillers and water before bed and then drank plenty of water this morning,” Yangyang told him. “As did I. We tried to give you some, too, but you’re too stubborn for it.”

Renjun grumbled. “How did we get home, anyway? The last thing I remember is trying to nap on Jaehyun.”

“We dragged you back here,” Yangyang said. “You’re heavier than you look and you kept trying to go to Jeno and Jaemin’s apartment, but we wouldn’t let you.”

“Oh, thank god.”

They laughed at him. He flipped them off, dropping into loveseat with his drink and ibuprofen.

“Is he still on the ‘I can’t confess my feelings because they don’t like me or each other’ bullshit?” Yangyang asked Donghyuck.

Donghyuck nodded, covering his eyes and leaning into the couch like he’d fainted. “He’s suffering in silence.”

“I’m right here.”

“I know where you are, I just refuse to acknowledge your stupidity.”

“Excuse me?” Renjun sat up to defend himself. “Do I have to remind you about the stupid shit I’ve seen both of you pull, particularly since you got together?”

“At least I had the guts to put myself out there and have a boyfriend now,” Yangyang retorted.

“They don’t like me, or each other. I think I would be able to tell that.”

“Maybe before you fell in love,” Donghyuck pointed out. “But you’re in too deep to see it now.”

“See what? That they’re affectionate people who like taking the chance to be affectionate with me? That doesn’t mean we’re in love.”

They shared a look. “Have you considered finding out for sure?” Yangyang asked. “Instead of pining and avoiding them.” He held up a hand before Renjun could open his mouth. “I’m not saying confess to them randomly. I’m just saying maybe you could figure out if there’s a chance on your own terms before you just decide to pine away forever.”

“What do you suggest then?”

They gave him the devil’s grins. “We have some ideas.”

He never should have agreed to help them get together. It was too much chaotic energy in one couple.

***

Renjun had to hide a grin when Jeno hung up the phone and growled. Jaemin seemed to be hiding a laugh as well. The cafe they sat in was quiet enough that everyone would look over if they made a scene. “What did he say?”

“‘Oh, did we forget to tell you? I’m sorry,’” Jeno mimicked Donghyuck’s most falsely innocent voice. “‘We got sidetracked and decided to go ahead and do the botanical garden by ourselves.’ What is this, the third time? If they’re going to go on dates by themselves, they should just tell us they’re going to do that instead of abandoning us.”

“Oops.” Renjun shrugged and sipped at his drink. He’d have to tell them to switch to a different idea if he couldn’t figure anything out today. “Maybe you should tell them that.”

“I did.” Jeno sulked into his coffee.

Jaemin finally laughed, a hand over his mouth to try keeping quiet. “Do you really not want to be alone with us that much?”

Renjun took another drink to cover his face as Jeno sputtered. He did that a lot, but was it only for them?

“That’s not it.” Jeno pushed his coffee mug around the table. “I just think it’s a little rude of them to keep doing this to us.”

“I told you.” Renjun shrugged. “Yangyang’s worse than Donghyuck, and the two of them together are chaos. At least it works in our favor for the moment.”

“How so?’ Jeno cocked his head.

“We’re alone, aren’t we?” Renjun waited to see if Jeno would blush. When he did, Renjun waved around the cafe with the arm wearing his charm bracelet. “We don’t have to see them being gross with each other for once.”

“Oh.” Jeno sagged into his seat—was that relief or disappointment? “That is an upside. I just wish they’d warn us.”

Jaemin hummed. He brushed a finger over one of the charms on Renjun’s bracelet. “We can talk to them. Don’t let it ruin our alone time, hm?” Speaking to them, Jaemin’s tone was as soft as it had ever been; Renjun couldn’t tell if anything had changed for him.

Renjun changed the subject. Jeno seemed glad to talk about classes and whatever was going on with Mark lately. Renjun slipped his phone out under the table while Jaemin questioned Jeno about his project.

_This isn’t working._

Donghyuck replied quickly. _You don’t want to be alone with them?_

_I didn’t say that, I said it’s not working. All it does when you abandon us is irritate Jeno._

_Jeno the angel? Wow. We’ll come rescue you, then_.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket. Donghyuck made good on his word; he and Yangyang reappeared within minutes and shoved their way into seats between him and Jaemin. Their idea of rescuing him left something to be desired, though.

“So.” Donghyuck leaned on Jaemin’s shoulder. “I’ve been very curious about something.”

“What’s that?” Jaemin kept scribbling on his napkin, but he turned his head toward Donghyuck.

“The Christmas trip. Did it change anything?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “You three were all cuddly and kissing and then we came back and it’s like nothing happened.”

“Don’t you miss it?” Yangyang added with a wicked grin.

Renjun froze. That was not his idea of helping. He played with his drink to give himself something to do.

Jaemin smiled gently. “I wouldn’t say it changed much, no.” Something about the affection with which he said it softened the blow. “It was nice.”

“Hmmm.” Donghyuck leaned across the table to poke Jeno. “What about you, then?”

“Me? What?” Jeno’s ears went red. “I don’t know. What would have happened?”

Renjun kicked whichever of the demon couple he could reach under the table. They both looked at him. He shook his head tightly. Donghyuck raised an eyebrow. Not long after, his phone buzzed.

_What?_

Renjun set his phone on his knee so the others wouldn’t see it while he answered. _That’s enough._

_You have the answer you want?_

_No, but I think I can handle it from here. You’re freaking Jeno out._

Yangyang tilted his head to the side, peeking over Donghyuck’s shoulder. _You don’t think what Jaemin said means anything?_

 _I didn’t say that. I said let me handle it. Quit abandoning us and shoving people into closets_ — _don’t think I forgot about that. I’ll talk to them soon._ Jaemin was staring at them.

 _Good_. Donghyuck changed the subject. Eventually, Jeno’s ears faded back to normal and Jaemin abandoned whatever he had been drawing. Hopefully they would actually leave it alone.

***

Renjun picked up the bag of food last on his way out of the house. He was going to get to the bottom of things today, or as close as he could without actually saying how he felt. Maybe he believe his advisors completely yet but something was off, after that last stunt the two had pulled. He was going to get to the bottom of it.

He kept the food close to his body for warmth. It was still chilly. What if they were just dealing with something completely unrelated? He could ruin the entire friendship Renjun thought as he turned onto Jeno and Jaemin’s apartment block. On the other hand, if Donghyuck had been right this whole time, he didn’t want to miss out on what he had seen they could have.

He had to juggle items to get to his keys and the spare key Jaemin had given him for safekeeping when they had first moved in. The door opened smoothly enough. Renjun took his shoes off and headed inside. He ducked into the kitchen to set the food on the counter before heading for the living room.

As Renjun stepped into the living room, he froze. Jeno and Jaemin were kissing on the couch. Kissing might even be too mild a word for it; Jaemin had Jeno in his lap and Jeno seemed to be trying to suck Jaemin’s face off. His hands clenched. Should he just leave? They looked good together, but if no one had invited him, maybe it wasn’t his place to see. Jeno glanced up and saw him.

Renjun rocked half a step back. Jeno’s gaze rooted him further in place. Jeno pulled off Jaemin to beckon Renjun over. “Come here, we missed you.”

He couldn’t have refused even if he’d wanted to. He padded over on light feet to stand in front of them. Jaemin beamed up at him. “There you are.”

“Here I am?”

“We’ve been waiting for you.” Jaemin pulled him down with a hand on his neck. Where other kisses had been sweet and controlled, this was rougher, more passionate. Jaemin pulled him in, and Renjun gave as good as he got. Whatever this meant, he was going to enjoy it.

He had barely pulled back to breathe when Jeno grabbed him. Kissing Jeno was a little sweeter, at least until Jeno got his tongue in Renjun’s mouth. Renjun grabbed Jeno’s shirt and steadied himself with a hand on Jaemin’s shoulder. They pulled him down to the couch, half across each of their laps. They traded kisses between all three of them until Renjun almost forgot why he had come over. 

It came back to him when he sat with his head on Jaemin’s shoulder watching him kiss all over Jeno’s face. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a creaky noise. They looked around.

“Are you okay?”

He coughed and tried again. “I just need some water, I think. And I think we should probably talk.”

“That’s true.” Jaemin nudged Renjun until he sat up. “I’ll get us all some water.” Jaemin wriggled out from their tangle of limbs and headed for the kitchen. Renjun snuggled up to Jeno in the meantime. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Jeno whispered back. “Is this okay?”

“Would I be here if it weren't?”

“Good point.” Jeno kissed the side of his head. “I’m glad.”

Renjun set his head on Jeno’s shoulder. Despite the questions, it didn’t feel rushed as they waited for Jaemin to come back. He had a little trouble balancing all three cups when he did, but he didn’t let them get up to help. Jaemin handed out the two glasses and kept one for himself. Jeno only sipped at his as Renjun downed half of his glass. Jaemin took his seat back and threw his legs over both of theirs so they were almost tangled again.

“Anyway, you wanted to talk?” Jaemin prompted him.

“Yes.” Renjun gathered himself. He kept the glass close as he played with its rim. “I’m not sure where to start, though.”

“How about when you realized that you wanted to make out with both of us?”

Renjun tapped at the glass with a fingernail. “I probably should have asked this before, but just what did I walk into?”

Jeno and Jaemin looked at each other. Jeno blushed and waved at Jaemin. Jaemin shrugged. “Basically, the culmination of weeks of sexual tension.”

“Did you have to put it like that?” Jeno whined.

“You were the one who let me talk,” Jaemin pointed out. “And it’s true. You and I,” he pointed to Renjun, “did plenty of kissing when we were in China, and so did you and Jeno, but he and I only kissed the once on New Year’s and I think things were building up ever since. Today we just couldn’t take it anymore, I guess? It was really great timing that you walked in here, by the way.”

Renjun shrugged. “I guess I’m just lucky like that.”

They all laughed. Renjun wrapped a hand around the cup. The cool glass pressing into his palm helped to ground him. “So was that all it was? Just kissing?”

“Did it feel like just kissing?” Jeno wanted to know.

Renjun gave a little smile. “No. But I want to be clear.”

“What did it mean to you?” Jaemin stared at him with such intensity, Renjun couldn’t look away.

“A lot,” he admitted. “Donghyuck will tell you, if you ask, that I’ve been having a hard time admitting even to myself that I’ve had feelings for both of you for a long time.”

“How long?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure, exactly.” That was half a lie, but he didn’t want to get into a conversation about the past right now. “I know I was in denial for a lot longer than I should have been, so I only ever admitted anything over the Christmas trip.”

“Aww, were we too good at our jobs?” Jaemin teased.

Renjun punched him softly. “Shut up. Maybe. Maybe I just needed a little push.” He set his glass on the coffee table. “Now, it’s your turn.” Jaemin had been doing plenty of talking. He nudged Jeno. “You never talk about this stuff. What’s going through your head?”

He squirmed a little. “I—it’s embarrassing.”

“More embarrassing than me admitting to being in denial about having crushes on two of my best friends?” Renjun raised an eyebrow. Jaemin set his chin on Renjun’s shoulder. He was probably pouting at Jeno, too.

Jeno melted. “Kind of, yes. I wasn’t in denial, really. I just never noticed that the things I was feeling were, you know, crush feelings. Until we started kissing.” He blushed. “That kind of made me go ‘Oh, right. This isn’t how you feel about your friends.’”

Renjun blinked. “I guess that explains the sexual tension.”

Jeno pointed at Jaemin. “Save me, it’s your turn.”

“Oh. Right.” Jaemin straightened. Renjun turned so he and Jeno could both face him. Jaemin bit his lip. For once, he didn’t look so sure of himself. “Well.”

“Well, what?” Renjun poked him gently. “Is it that hard to talk about your feelings? After all the flirting you’ve done?”

“Yes, actually.” He reached for both of their hands. His were a little shaky, but so warm. “I’ve been aware of my feelings for longer than either of you. I just didn’t do anything about them because I didn’t think they’d be reciprocated, especially not from both of you.”

Had he been feeling the way Renjun had felt these last weeks?

“How long is long?” Jeno wanted to know.

Jaemin glanced up through his lashes, pretty without even trying. “I’ve had a crush on you since we were in middle school,” he told Jeno eventually. Renjun squeezed Jaemin’s hand. “I tried getting over it because you were my best friend and everyone knows that that’s a bad idea, not to mention you seemed more interested in girls at the time.”

Renjun tipped his head back to peek at Jeno. Jeno shrugged sheepishly. “I didn’t get all that figured out until the middle of high school.”

Jaemin laughed. “Yeah, it was interesting. Anyway, I tried dating in high school, but it didn’t work, so I gave up on it. Then we met you.” The gaze he leveled at Renjun was so warm, he almost couldn’t believe he’d missed the meaning before. “At first, I thought developing feelings for you meant I was getting over Jeno, but that became very obviously not true the longer things went on.” He shrugged. “But neither of you seemed interested, so I didn’t bother really trying to do anything about it. And then you came and asked us to be your boyfriends for Christmas.” He smiled. “It made me hope, because you could have asked anyone, but you asked the two of us. So, maybe I played it up a little more seriously than I would have otherwise.”

Renjun couldn’t take it anymore. He darted in to kiss Jaemin. He still didn’t really know what he was doing with this whole ‘expressing emotions physically’ thing, but he tried to put everything Jaemin’s words had called up into the kiss. When he pulled back, Jaemin looked a little dazed, like he had after the first one, so maybe he’d done it right. 

“I’m sorry you had to wait,” Renjun said when he felt like he had the right words. “It must have been hard. But I want this, if you both do, too.”

Jaemin nodded vigorously. They turned to Jeno. He just blinked at them from his spot still half under Renjun. “I thought we already established that? Wasn’t that why we’re talking about our feelings?”

Jaemin laughed and kissed Jeno over Renjun’s shoulder. “Yes, of course,” Jaemin told him, “But it’s nice to hear explicitly, you know?”

“Okay.” He wrapped his arms around Renjun and leaned them both forward to kiss Jaemin again. “Yes, I want to date you.”

“So.” Renjun squirmed until he could breathe properly, squished between them. “Shall we go on a date we all agree is real and see how it goes?”

The enthusiastic response left him a little short on air, but that was okay.

***

Yangyang and Donghyuck had made fun of him when he came home and told them what had happened, but they still helped him prepare for the date. He carried another couple of shirts out of the closet.

“Are these acceptable to you?” He paraded the shirts for the couple. “Why am I even doing this?”

“Because you caused us enough grief with your shenanigans,” Donghyuck sniffed. “The least you can do is let us make sure you look good for the payoff.”

Renjun dropped the shirt so he could pretend to strangle Donghyuck. Yangyang giggled as he pulled his boyfriend away. “But it gets rid of your nerves, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t have to confirm or deny that,” Renjun picked up the shirts. “So?”

“The red one.” Donghyuck plucked it. “You’ll blind them.”

“I hope he doesn’t blind them, that would be dangerous.” Yangyang whined when Donghyuck elbowed him. “Hey.”

Renjun put the shirts over the back of his desk chair. He crossed his arms. “Didn’t you two have something to tell me? Or have you not finished talking it out yet?”

“Oh.” Yangyang fidgeted. Donghyuck put a hand over his to hold him still. “Yeah. About that. How would you feel about having a third roommate for longer than the next couple of weeks?”

“I knew it.” Renjun threw up his hands. “I knew this would happen. Are you sure you can handle not causing constant chaos?”

“Well … no. But would you turn me down anyway?” Yangyang gave him his best innocent face.

“Obviously, no. But he’s still your responsibility.” He pointed at Donghyuck. “This was your idea.”

Donghyuck whined, but Yangyang distracted him with more clothing choices. After his clothes were settled, it became a waiting game because the two who lived together insisted on picking him up.

When the doorbell rang, Donghyuck shoved him into Yangyang and ran to answer it. By the time he untangled himself, Donghyuck was pretending to be terribly menacing to Jeno and Jaemin. Renjun rushed to save his maybe-boyfriends. They both smiled down at him as soon as they saw him. Renjun got his coat and squished between them.

“Don’t stay out too late,” Donghyuck said. “Or, rather, don’t come back because Yangyang and I want a night to ourselves.” He shut the door in their faces.

Renjun rolled his eyes. “I guess that tells me where I’m spending the night.”

“We’re okay with that,” Jaemin said, grinning.

Jeno nudged him. “Don’t make this weird.”

“I’m not making anything weird. Am I making it weird?” Jaemin asked Renjun.

Renjun snorted but shook his head. “No, I’m not weirded out. Though I do think that was kind of greasy.”

Jaemin shrugged. “You know what would help that?”

“What?”

“If you kissed me.”

“Shut up.” But he did it anyway. Then Jeno wanted one, which led to more kissing than Renjun had expected to subject his hallway to. He finally dragged them both away by their hands. “So where are we going? Since neither of you would tell me.”

Jaemin laced their fingers together. “I’ll give you a hint. We tried to find something we’d all enjoy. Jeno’s a nerd for history, you like conspiracy theories, and I like medical things.”

“I feel like I know where this is going.” Renjun swung their hands together. There were only so many places it could be.

Before he could answer, Jeno burst from his other side. “It’s the war history museum.”

Jaemin pouted. “I wanted him to guess.”

“I was going to guess the war history museum, don’t worry.” Renjun pulled them ahead. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.”

“Have you been there before?” Jeno wasn’t quite as tall as Jaemin, but it was easy for both of them to keep pace with him.

“Oh, a hundred times.” Renjun grinned. “But not with you two. Are you ready to hear every theory I’ve ever had?”

Jaemin pretended to groan, but he squeezed Renjun’s hand after. And they listened to everything he had to say as they moved through the various battle exhibits, even if they didn’t completely agree. He and Jeno ended up debating the causes of the unification of the Three Kingdoms for a while in front of the exhibit while Jaemin examined some of the bodies. It was the best date he had had in a long time.

When they got home, Renjun let them lead him into their apartment like he hadn’t been there a million times. Jeno made a big deal about not wanting anyone to go in his room, so Jaemin took them to his. Jaemin had the biggest best of the three of them. It made for a tighter squeeze than the bed at his parents’ house, but they did all fit. Renjun fell asleep cuddled up to his boys like he never wanted to leave.

***

After the first successful date, they traded off planning and managed several more in the span of a few weeks. It was fun, almost easier than hanging out as friends had been because there were no secrets, but they never brought up the future. Renjun slid closer to Jaemin while they waited for Jeno to get back from the bathroom, the movie they were watching paused on the tv.

Jeno crawled back onto the blanket to make space between them. He rooted around for the remote so they could start the movie again. What was Renjun waiting for? “Be my boyfriends.”

“I thought we already were?” Jeno cocked his head.

Jaemin just cooed.

“I mean, we were heading in that direction.” Renjun patted Jaemin’s head. “But I thought it would be nice to clarify. Is that a yes?”

“Of course it’s a yes,” Jaemin leaned over to kiss him. “From me, anyway.”

“As if it would be anything else.” Jeno kissed him, too. Then he kissed Jaemin. “Your parents already think we’re dating. We might as well go ahead and make everything true.”

Renjun cackled.

“Does this mean I get to take you home for winter break this time?” Jaemin perked up.

“If you’re okay with Donghyuck coming, too,” Renjun told him, “And probably Yangyang. We can talk about it.”

“Fun as those logistics are going to be,” Jeno’s hand inched toward the remote, “Movie time?”

Renjun kissed his cheek. “Movie time.”

He settled back onto his pillow to watch a movie with his boyfriends. There would be time for everything else later.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, thank you! This fic spawned much more than I expected it to. I can't get these characters out of my head, so I am sure I'll be writing companion fics soon enough. What did you think?
> 
> Post-reveals:  
> Yanghyuck WILL be getting their own fic soon :D and probably more
> 
> also, this fic in summary:  
> Renjun: what are feelings, idk them... unless  
> Jeno: hehehe ... wait  
> Jaemin: *in love noises*


End file.
